University  Library 
University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


Printed  by  the  BEPUBLICAN  STATE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE  of  California. 

Campaign  Document  No.  5. 


"POSTING  THE  BOOKS  BETWEEN  THE  NORTH  AND  THE  SOUTH." 


SPEECH 

HON,  JOHN  jfPERRY,  OF  MAINE. 

Delivered  in  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  March  7,  1860. 


In  the  discussions  which  have  here  taken 
place.  Southern  gentlemen  have  expressed  a  will 
ingness  to  stand  by  the  Constitution  of  our  com 
mon  country,  to  observe  in  good  faith  its  obliga 
tions  and  compromises.  We,  of  the  North,  join 
hands  with  you  here.  We  claim  that  we  aiv  not 
only  loyal  to  this  great  fundamental  law,  but 
that  we  have  been  so  in  all  times  past.  And  here 
comes  the  issue  to  be  tried  :  you  charge  us  with 
numerous  derelictions  of  duty  ;  we  charge  them 
back  upon  you.  You  have  arraigned  the  great 
Republican  party  of  the  Union  before  the  high 
court  of  the  American  people,  and  charged  it 
with  treason  to  the  Constitution  ;  we  fling  all 
special  pleadings  to  the  winds,  join  issue  upon 
the  merits,  and  go  to  the  country.  <**>*+ 

What  is  the  Constitution  ?  Is  it  a  mere  mem-  J 
orandum  of  an  agreement,  entered  into  by  the  ( 
States  of  this  Union  in  their  sovereign  capacity 
as  States,  to  be  observed  or  broken  at  the  pleas 
ure  of  any  one  or  more  of  the  high  contracting 
parties?  Is  it  a  great  confederated  partnership, 
in  which  the  several  States  have  agreed  to  do 
business  under  the  firm  name  of  the  "  Union," 
with  the  right  reserved  to  each  and  every  part 
ner  to  withdraw  at  pleasure  ?  Is  it  a  compact 
or  league  between  the  several  States,  entered  • 

localities  in  this  GovernmenCjMThe  discordanfjl  into  and  ratified  by  State  sovereignty — simply 
notes  of  DISUNION  !  DISUNION  !  have  in  defiant  tones  f  an  agreement  that  can  be  kept  or  broken  at  the 

will  of  any  or  either  of  the  parties  thereto  ?    Is 
this  a  fair  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  ?    I 

The 
and 


->       The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole 
„  on  the  State   of  the   Union,   and  having  under 
Consideration  the  President's  message — 
Mr.  PERRY  said  : 

Mr.  Chairman,  since  the  adoption  of  the  Amer- 

.   ican  Constitution,  our  beloved  country  has  been 

called  upon  to  pass  through  several  fiery  ordeals. 

•    Our  Government  was  an  experiment,  and  as  such 

it  has  been  put  to  severe  tests  and  trials. 

Upon  one  of  these  important  occasions,  when 
—    a  crisis  was  apparently  upon  us,  there  stood  up 
a  hero,  a  chieftain,    a   patriot,  clothed  with  au 
thority  by  the   American  people,   and  solemnly 
declared  by  the  Great  Eternal :  "  THE  UNION,  IT 

MUST  AND  SHALL  BE  PRESERVED." 

That  illustrious  old  hero,  backed  up  and  sup 
ported  by  millions  of  patriotic  hearts,  rallied 
around  the  Constitution  of  our  common  country, 
and  the  Union  was  saved.  Since  that  time,  we 
have  been  traveling  on  as  a  nation  to  glory, 
greatness,  and  power. 

Although  we  have  been  increasing  in  wealth, 
extending  our  borders,  developing  our  vast  and 
;  varied  national  resources,  diffusing  the  means  of 
intelligence  and  education  in  every  direction, 
there  is  an  apparent  restlessness,  a  stirring  up 
of  the  bitter  waters  of  sectional  strife,  in  certain 


grated  upon  our  ears,  from  the  first  day  that  we 
took  our  seats  in  this  Hall,  until  the  present 
time  ;  while  upon  every  Southern  breeze  there 


answer  most  emphatically  in  the  negative, 
reasons  for  this  opinion  are  numerous 
weighty.  If  this  is  all  there  is  of  the  Constitu- 


comes  up  to  the  Capitol,  from  Southern  Execu 
tives,  Southern  Legislatures,  Southern  Conven 
tions,  and  the  Southern  press,  the  same  unwel-j  tion°  then  it  need  never  have  been  formed.     The 
come  threatenings.  ««J  thirteen  original  States  or  Colonies,  as  far  back 

At  this  point  the  question  suggests  itself,  what  1  as  before  the  Revolution,  entered  into  a  corn- 
has  the  North  done,  or  left  undone,  that  it  should  \  pact ;  they  reduced  this  compact  to  writing,  and 
be  thus  rudely  assailed  ?  And  what  reason  has  r  it  is  found  in  the  old  Articles  of  Confederation, 
the  South  for  dealing  out  these  bitter  threats  L  framed  in  JJJ^.  Acting  under  this  compact,  the 
and  denunciations  against  their  brethren  in  the!  thirteen  colonies  sent  forth  to  the  world  and 
free  States?)!  This  question,  with  its  incidental]  posterity  that  great  magna  charta  of  Republican 


connections,  1  now  propose  briefly  to  discuss  ; 
and  while  I  feel  called  upon  to  speak  plainly, 
and  in  all  frankness,  I  mean  to  observe  that 


principles,   the    Declaration    of   Independence. 
Under  this  compact,  our  fathers  struggled  and  , 
toiled  through  seven  long  years  of  revolutionary 

strict  courtesy  and  gentlemanly  bearing  which  |  warfare,  and  achieved  the  independence  and  lib- 
is  due  from  every  member  upon  this  floor  to  his  a  erties  of  our  common  country.  The  preamble  to 
peers.  [  this  compact  defines  the  "Articles  ot  Confedera- 

V^.. 
/ 


tion  to  be  a  perpetual  union  between  the  States  ; " 
while  the  thirteenth  and  last  article  closes  by 
declaring  "  that  the  articles  thereof  shall  be  in 
violably  observed  by  the  States,  and  that  the 
UNION  SHAM.  BE  PERPETUAL."  Why  did  our  fa- 
"Hthers  abandon  the  olcTIeague  or  compact  formed 
under  these  Articles  of  Confederation,  and  sub 
stitute  the  Constitution  ?  If  they  had  been  sat 
isfied  to  have  lived  under  a  league  or  compact, 
they  never  Would  have  changed  their  form  oi 
government ;  and  this  is  the  reason  that  they 

(preferred  a  Constitution  to  a  compact. 
Although  there  has  been  a  slight  conflict  of 
opinion  among  American  statesmen  and  jurists 
upon  this  subject,  yet  a  vast  majority  of  the  au 
thorities  concur  in  this  opinion,  that  the  Consti 
tution  is  not  a  league,  compact,  or  confederacy, 
but  a  fundamental  law.     The  idea  that  the  Con- 
I  stitution  is  a  mere  compact  between  the  States 
I  is  completely  refuted  by  the  instrument  itself.  In 
the  preamble,  it  declares  the  "  people,"  and  not 
the  States,  made  it,  in  words  too  plain  and  direct 
to  be  mistaken  :  "  We,  the  people  of  the  United 
,    States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  do 
j    ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution."    I  make 
these  remarks  as  the  basis  of  what  I  may  desire 
to  say  hereafter  relative  to  the  doctrine  proclaim 
ed  by  certain  honorable   gentlemen  upon  this 
floor — that  a  State,  in  its  sovereign  capacity,  has 
|    a  right  peaceably  to  secede  from  the  Union. 

I  now  turn  to  another  point  involved  in  this 
controversy — namely,  the  compromises  entered 
into  upon  the  slavery  question,  between  the 
North  and  the  South,  at  the  formation  of  the 
Constitution. 

Neither  the  word  "  slave  "  nor  •'  slavery  "  any- 
jwhere  appears  in  the  Constitution,  and  this  omis 
sion  was  iiot  accidental.    Mr.  Madison,  who  had 
more  to  do  with  framing  the  Constitution  than 
any  other  man,  said  he  "  thought  it  wrortg  to 
admit  into  the  Constitution  the  IDKA  that  there 
I   could  be  property  in  men."     (3  Madison  Papers, 
1492.)     Mr.  Sherman  said  "  he  was  opposed  to 
a  tax  on  slaves,  because  it  implied  they  were 
^property."      (3   Madison   Papers,   1390.)     Other 
members  expressed  similar  opinions.    Notwith 
standing  our  fathers  carefully  guarded  the  lan 
guage  incorporated  into  the  Constitution,  with  a 
!  direct  view  to  the  ultimate  extinction  of  slavery. 
*  yet  the  fact  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  the  institu 
tion  then  existed  in  nearly  all  the  States, "  under 
the  laws  thereof;  "  and  this  fact  entered  into  the 
compromises  which  resulted  in  its  formation  and 
adoption.     The  first  compromise  agreed  upon  is 

(found  in  article  one,  ^eTtion**'!w*o,  clause  three, 
of  the  Constitution,  and  was  a  direct  concession 
to  theSouth.N|This  provision  allows  a  property 
basis  or"  representation  upon  this  floor,  which  is 
not  allowed  the  North  5  the  operation  of  which 
is  to  give  to  the  slaveholding  States  to-day,  as 
was  truly  remarked  by  an  honorable  gentleman 
t  from  Mississippi,  [Mr.  LAMAR,]  twenty  Reprtigent- 
atives  in  this  House  based  upon  property. 

The  members  of  the  Convention  which  framed 
the  Constitution  from  the  North  contended  that 
if  "  three  fifths  "  of  the  slave  property  in  the 
South  was  to  be  added  to  the  "  whole  number  of 
[.free  persons,"  then  the  exports — the  products  of 


/*"* 

Vthe   : 


;he  slave  population — should  be  taxed  as  an 
equivalent  to  the  North.  Mr.  King  expressed 
the  opinions  of  the  North  when  he  said  :  "At  all 
event?,  either  slaves  should  not*be  represented 
or  exports  should  be  taxable."  (3  Madison  Pa 
pers,  1262.)  The  only  equivalent  which  the  North 
received  was  the  connecting,  provision  in  the 
article  and  section  abgve  referred  to?«.which  de 
clares,  that  in  levying  "  direct  taxes,"  they 
should  be  apportioned  according  to  the  basis  of 
representation  5  and,  as  we  raise  our  taxes  from 
a  tariff  of  duties  levied  upon  imports,  this  pro 
vision  is  worthless  to  the  people  of  the  free 
States. 

The  next  compromise  embodied  in  the  Consti 
tution  upon  tliesTavery  question  is  found  in 
section  nine,  article  one  : 

migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of 
the  States  now  existing  shall  ihink  proper  to  admit,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  Congres>  prior  to  the  year  1808;  but 
a^tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  ou  such  importation,  not  ex- 
eediug  ten  dollars  for  each  person." 

Trior  to  this  time,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  sev 
eral  other  States,  had  abolished  the  foreign  slave 
trade.  A  large  majority  of  the  Convention  de 
sired  to  abolisli  it  at  once.  We  have  the  most 
conclusive  evidence  upon  this  point.  Mr.  Iredell, 
in  the  North  Carolina  State  Convention  called  to 
ratify  the  Constitution,  said  : 

m "^It  was  the  wish  of  a  great  majority  of  the  Convention 
to  put  an  end  to  the  trade  immediately,  but  South  Caroli 
na  and  Georgia  would  not  agree  to  it." 
—  Again  he  said  : 

«'  It  is  probable  that  all  the  members  reprobated  the  in 
human  traffic,  but  South  Carolina  und  Georgia  would  not 
consent  to  an  immediate  prohibition  of  it;  one  reason  was, 
that  during  the  last  war,  the  .Revolution,  they  lost  a  vast 
number  ol  negroes,  which  they  wished  to  supply." — '6  Eli 
ot  s  Debates,  96,  97,  98. 

Mr.  Spaight,  in  the  same  Convention,  said  that 

"  The  limitation  of  this  trade  to  the  term  of  twenty  years 
Was  a  compromise  between  the  .Eastern  and  Southern 
gtates — South  Carolina  and  Georgia  wished  to  extend  the 
term — the  Eastern  States,  insisted  on  the  entire  abolition 
of  the  trade." — 3  Eliot's  Debates,  96. 

General  Pinckuey,  in  the  South  Carolina  rati 
fication  State  Convention,  said,  that  while  some 
of  the  Eastern  States  were  willing,  for  the  sake 
01  the  South,  to  wait  a  little  before  putting  stop 
the  slave  traffic— 

The  Middle  States  and  Virginia  made  us  no  such  prop- 
ssition;  they  were  for  an  immediate  and  total  prohibition." 
rEliofs  Debates,  357, 

Thus  the  fact  is  established  and  proved,  that 
ongress  was  prevented  from  abolishing  the 
slave  trade  for  twenty  years,  as  special  favor  to 
two  Southern  States  of  this  Union. 

The  only  remaining  clause  in  the  Constitution 
relating  to  slavery  is  article  four,  section  two, 
lause  three  : 

k"  No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under 
the  laws  thereof,  escaping  intoanother.shall,iu  consequence 
of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  Irom  such 
service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
)arty  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due." 

This  provision  was  another  concession  to  slave- 
lolding  States. 

And  here  it  is  important  to  inquire  whether 
;he  framers  of  the  Constitution  considered  sla 
very  national  or  local?  The  rendition  clause 
ust  quoted  is  an  answer  to  the  question  :  "  Per 
sons  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  "  under 


the  laws  thereof"    Here  they  put  upon  record,  in 


the  great  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  the  fact 
+v,of  "  " 


States,  and  not  by  force  of  the  Constitution.  Its 
framers  so  expressed  themselves  in  the  Constitu 
tional  Convention.  Mr^errv  sajd^ 

'•  We  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  conduct  of  States  as  to 
slaves,  but  ouylit  to  be  careful  not  to  give  any  sanction  to  #." 
— 3  Madison  Papers,  page  1394.  *^ 

They  left  the  whole  question  where  they  found 
it — with  the  States,  to  be  continued  or  abolish 
ed  as  they  severally,  in  their  sovereign  capaci 
ties,  should  determine. 

II.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution  made  that 
instrument  with  the  desire  and  expectation  that 
si  >  very  would  ultimately  be  abolished  in  all  the 
States  ;  that  in  this  country  it  would  come  to  a 
fuial  end.  Tuis  proposition  is  clearly  demon 
strated  in  their  openly  avowed  opinions  upon 
the  slavery  question. 

General  Washington,  although  a  slaveholder, 
believed  slavery  wrong.  He  freely  expressed 
himself  upon  this  point,  and  has  left  the  clearest 
evidence  behind  him  upon  this  question. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  in  his  official  acts  and  pub 
lic  writings,  has  left  to  posterity  a  record  that 
cannot  be  mistaken.  In  his  Notes  on  Virginia, 
he  boldly  declares : 

'•  Nobody  wishes  more  ardently  than  I,  an  abolition  not 
only  of  the  slave  taade,  but  of  the  condition  of  slavery." — 
Page  170. 

Governeur  Morris,  in  the  Convention  which 
formed  the  Constitution  said  : 

"  He  never  could  consent  to  uphold  human  slavery ;  it 
•was  a  nefarious  institution." — 3  Madison  Papers,  1263.  / 

Mr.  Sherman  said  : 

'•  That  the  abolition  of  slavery  seemed  to  be  going  on  in 
the  United  States,  and  that  the  good  sense  of  the  several 
States  would,  probably  by  degrees,  complete  it." — 3  Madison 
Papers,  loV'J.  *• 

Col.  Mason,  of  Virginia,  said  : 

"  Slavery  discourages  the  arts  and  manufactures,  ana1 
brings  the  judgment  of  Heaven  on  a  country." — 3  Madison 
Papers,  13yl. 

In  the  Virginia  Convention  to  ratify  the  Con 
stitution,  Mr.  Henry  said : 

"  Slavery  is  detested  ;  we  feel  its  fatal  defects  ;  we  de 
plore  it  with  all  the  pity  of  humanity." — 2  Eliot's  Debates, 
437. 

The  illustrious  William  Pinkuey,  in  the  Ma 
ryland  Legislature.  mTT88",  KB  :  J0 

'•  By  the  eternal  principles  of  eternal  justice,  no  maste 
the  State  has  the  right  to  hold  his  slave  in  bondage  for  a 
single  hour.  *  *  *  \Ve  may  talk  of  liberty  in  our  pub 
lic  councils,  and  fancy  that  we  feel  reverence  for  her  dic 
tates.  *  *  *  In  the  uamy  of  Heaven,  can  we  call  our 
selves  the  friends  01  equal  freedom  and  the  inherent  rights 
of  our  species,  when  we  wantonly  pa#s  laws  inimical  to 
e$ch;  when  we  reject  every  opportunity  of  destroying,  by 
silent,  imperceptible  degrees,  the  horrid  fabric  of  individual 
bondage,  reared  by  the  mercenary  hands  of  those  from 
whom  the  s;icivd  ll.une  of  liberty  received  no  devotion  ?"• 


"X,,, 

, 

evidence  to  this  point.   The  enacting  of  the  eele-\ 
brated  ordinance  of  JI&L  by  which  all  territory  » 
then    outside    of  the  istates  was    made  forever 
free,  is  another  incontrovertible  proof  of  their 


I 


3.  The  opinions  of  the  founders  of  this  Re 
public  were  not  only  acquiesced  in  and  endorsed, 
but  taken  as  authoritative  expositions  of  the 
Constitution,  by  nearly  all  the  great  statesmen 
of  the  country  during  the  first  sixty  years  of  its 
existence.  •"11"  «*  - 

aaEirst,  that  Congress  has  power,  under  the  Con-7 
stltuTibn,  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories. 
The  ordinance  6f~rrg7,  passed  by  the  First  Con 
gress  under  the  (Constitution,  in  which  were 
twenty  members  of  the  Federal  Convention  which 
framed  the  Constitution,  is  a  direct  exercise  of  J 
this  power.WIt  passed  unanimously,  and  was  \ 
approved  by  General  Washington.  Subsequent 
acts,  in  which  the  same  principle  was  directly 
recognised,  were  passed,  as  follows  :  an  act, 
April  7,  1798,  organizing  Mississippi  Territory  ;  i 
in  the  Sixth  Congress,  an  act  organizing  Indiana 
Territory  ;  an  act,  March  26,  1804,  dividing 
Louisiana  into  two  Territories  ;  January  11,  1805, 
an  act  organizing  Michigan  Territory  ;  February 
3,  1809,  an  act  establishing  Illinois  Territory; 
June  4,  1812,  an  act  establishing  Missouri  Terri 
tory  ;  March  3,  1817,  an  act  relating  to  Alabama  | 
Territory  5  March  9,  1819,  an  act  establishing 
Arkansas,  Territory  ;  March  6,  1820,  the  Missouri 
compromise  was  established  ;  March  10,  1822, 
an  act  establishing  Florida  Territory  ;  April  20, 
1836,  an  act  establishing  Wisconsin  Territory  • 
June  12,  1838,  an  act  for  the  government  of  Iowa; 
and  March  3,  1848,  an  act  establishing  the  gov 
ernment  of  Oregon.  *** 

These  different  acts  received  the  sanction  oT*J 
fourteehdifferent  Congresses,  and  the  official  ap- 
proySFof  Presidents  Adams,  Jefferson,  Madjgpn, 
Monroe,  Jackson.  VanTSjftren,  ^d   Polk.     All 
ctly  acknowleded  t 


ckson. 

curectly  acnowledged  trmstitu- 
tional  power  of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in 
the  Territories,  and  that  it  was  right  and  expe-  t 
dient  to  exercise  it.  V 

Secondly,  until  within  a  very  few  years,  the 
opinions  of  the  early  statesmen  that  slavery  was 
dependent  upon  state  regulations  for  its  exist 
ence  and  protection  —  a  local  and  not  a  national 
institution  —  has  been  uniformly  concurred  in  by 
Congress,  State  Legislatures,  the  Judiciary  of  the 
United  States  aad  of  the  several  States.     The   j 
proof  is  found  in  the  acts  of  Copgress,  of  State    '' 
Legislatures,  and  in  the  numerous  decisions  of  / 
United  States  and  State  courts.  M 

Mr.  Chairman,  having  briefly  referred  to  the 
Constitution,  its  compromises  upon  the  slavery 
question,  the  rules  of  construction  applicable  to 


from  L 

?"— Jit,  as  handed  down  to  us  by  its  framers,  and  con- 
oft*    Umted  States,  volume  s.Jf  ^  ^^  curred  in  by  all  the  great  statesmen  of  the  coun- 


But  I  will  not  further  elaborate  a  proposition 
which  cannot  be  successfully  denied,  by  quoting 
additional  extracts  from  the  writings  ot  early 
American  statesmen. 

2.  The  hypothesis  here  set  up  is  proved  by 
the  cotemporaueous  acts  of  our  fathers.  The 
provision  in  the  Constitution  relating  to  the  sup 
pression  of  the  slave  trade  after  1808  is  strong 


try  for  more  than  half  a  centuryil  now  come  to 
a  material  point  involved  in  tnis  cRSJu^fSn. 

Has  tin-  South  received  what  legitimutely  be- 
lougrtf  to  lie?*tmder  the  ConstitutionTlmd  if 
there  have  been  sectional  aggressions,  from  which 
party  nave  they  come? 

In  discussmg  lHHWftatter,  I  shall  deal  in  facts 
a,n<l  figures,  and  not  in  inflammatory  declamation 


and  vague  generalities,  which  have  been  so  much 
indulged  in  by  gentlemen  upon  the  other  side. 
1.  Hasthe  Sou^  had  the  property  representa- 
tffrantiefr1 


l  tion  girafantiecrHBy  the   Constitution?    No  one 
I  denies  it ;  and  she  has  to-day  twenty  Representa- 
tives  upon  this  floor  upon  a  property  basis,  while 
the  free  States  have  none.     Taking  the  census  of 
1850  as  the  basis  of  calculation,  sixmillion  free 
*  whites  in  the  South  have  under  tffi^fpportion- 
ment  ninety  mejjnber^t  thirteen  million    in  the 
North  nave'Hme  xfuiLd/M  arnTTorty^Sevep  mem- 
'    ^  ratio  equSfwrth  the  South"Would  give 
North  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  mem 
bers. 

2.  The  South  has  always  had  the  benefit  of  a 
fugitive  slave  law  to  reclaim  their  runaway 
slaves.  "Some  of  the  provisions  of  the  present 
law  are  extremely  obnoxious  to  the  people  of  the 
free  States  ;  yet  it  has  been  enforced  with  as 
little  difficulty  as  any  other  law  of  doubtful  con 
stitutionality,  and  made  for  the  exclusive  benefit 
of  a  particular  section  of  country.  It  is  true, 
slaves  sometimes  run  away,  and  are  not  recap 
tured  and  carried  back  5  and  just  as  long  as  they 
possess  the  power  of  locomotion,  just  so  long 
more  or  less  of  their  number  will  abscond.  This 
very  fact  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  the  asser 
tion  often  made,  respecting  this  uncertain  kind 
of  property,  that  the  African  prefers  slavery  to 
freedom. 

^•**  It  would  be  passing  strange  if  the  whole  sub 
ject  of  negro  slavery  could  be  discussed  upon 
slave  territory,  in  the  midst  of  the  slave  popula- 

Ition,  by  Southern  politicians,  as  it  has  been  done 
for  several  years  last  past,  without  waking  up 
in  the  minds  of  some  of  this  degraded  race,  ideas 
of  personal  liberty.  If  these  negroes  love  sla 
very,  and  are  contented,  of  course  they  will  re 
main  where  they  are  ;  but  if  they  get  a  little  of 
\  Bunker  Hill  or  Yorktown  into  their  heads,  judg- 
1  ing  from  the  past,  they  will  be  quite  likely  to 
suffer  their  magnetic  attractions  to  vibrate  in  the 
direction  of  the  north  pole.  Northern  people 
are  not  to  blame  for  all  this.  It  is  one  of  the 
incidents  which  always  did  and  always  will  con 
nect  itself  with  your  peculiar  institution.  Just 
so  long  as  there  is  slavery,  just  so  long  there 
will  be  runaways  from  it.  All  past  history  proves 
this  fact.  Then  again,  the  way  and  manner  in 
which  you  sometimes  undertake  to  execute  it  are 
highly  exceptionable.  Under  some  fraudulent, 
false  pretence,  the  fugitive  is  often  assaulted, 
knocked  down,  and  dragged  off  like  a  dog,  hur 
ried  away  before  some  five-dollar  commissioner, 
\  and  by  him  summarily  sent  off'  into  slavery,  upon 
I  proof  thai  would  not  warrant  a  magistrate  in 
giving  judgment  for  a  claim  of  four  or  six  pence 
before  a  country  justice. 

j^*The  very  first  persgg  you  undertook  to  reclaim 

f  under*  this  iSw^wasa  free  manyano1  when  your 

I  Union-saving   slave-catchers    from    New   York 

f  landed  him  at  the  door  of  his  alleged  master,  in 

Maryland,,  like  an  honest,  high-minded,  honor- 

abieman  —  as  I  am  frank  to  say  many  of  the 

(slaveholders  are — he  denied  ever  owning  him, 
and  the  kidnappers  had  to  let  him  run.  A  fair 
trial  in. a.  case  which  places  a  person's  personal 
liberty  for  life  in  the  power  of  a  single  man,  and 


1   liben 


that  man  sometimes  the  corrupt  tool  of  the  power 
that  made  him,  is  bad  enough,  in  all  conscience; 
but  when  those  engaged  in  this  business  under 
take  to  make  a  mockery  of  this,  do  you  wonder 
the  people  of  the  free  States  sometimes  get  "a 
little  excited  ?  V 

If  our  Southern  friends  expect  the  people  of- 
the  freeotates  to  turn  slave  hunters,  and  join  in 
the  chase  in  running  down  the  panting  iugitive, 
they  will  be  disappointed.  We  never  agreed  to 
any  such  thing,  and  we^never  will  do  it  5  it  is  not 
the  bond."  J| 

ad  as  the  law  is,  and  as  objectionable  as  is 
the  manner  in  which  it  is  attempted  to  be  execu 
ted,  it  is  enforced  by  the  people  of  the  free  States. 
The  honorable  gentleman  from  Ohio  [ex-Gov 
ernor  CORWIN]  has  told  you  in  this  House  it  is 
enforced  in  the  West.  So  it  is  in  the  middle 
States,  and  so  it  has  been  in  New  England.  Yes, 
sir,  Boston  court-house  has  been  put  in  chains, 
and  the  peaceable  people  of  that  State  kept  out 
of  the  temple  of  justice  by  federal  bayonets, 
and  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  robbed  of 
its  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  to  pay  the 
bills  for  returning  a  fugitive  slave. 

It  is  due  fairness  to  add,  that  individually, 
I  believe  the  present  fugitive  slave  law  uncon 
stitutional  ;  and  if  a  bill  were  introduced  into 
this  House  for  its  unconditional  repeal,  I  would 
vote  for  it,  and  in  so  doing  should  reflect  the 
opinions  of  a  vast  majority  of  my  constituents  of 
all  parties. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  intend  to  stop  her<>, 
but  shall  pursue  this  subject  further,  and  show 
that  the  people  of  the  free  States  have  nut  only 
kept  good  faith  with  the  South  so  tar  as  their 
constitutional  obligations  are  concerned,  but 
have  dealt  not  only  fairly  but  generously  in 
other  matters  growing  out  of  the  relations  ex 
isting  between  the  two  sections.^  This  J.eads  m 
ip  my  third  point  under  this  divisYfiif  "'fll  Tny 

*       •,   •      .  tnitju&^fe 

jsubjecl  :    '  y  ^ 

Sq.  Miles. 
At  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1783.  the  United  States 

had  a  territory  of. 820,680 

Since  that  time  we  have  acquired  by — 

The  Louisiana  purchase 899,579 

The  Florida  purchase 00.900 

The  Texas  annexation 318.000 

The  Oregon  treaty 3u8,052 

The  treaty  with  Mexico 522.965 

Total  territory  acquired  since  1783, 2,115,486 

From  the  territory  thus  purchased,  there  have 
been  five  new  slave  States  adnaitt  d  into  the 
Union,  to  wit :  Louisiana,  Missouri,  Arkansas, 
Florida,  and  Texas  ;  and  four  free  States,,  as  fol 
lows:  California,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  Oregon 
The  five^lave  States  have  l^n^Seuator.-  and  six- 
i£yn  Representatives  in  Congress  iLthe^^li^r  tree 
States,  eight ^enators and  sc\vn  iirpr  s ••ht.ai.ives. 
And  in  this  division  of  territory  betweenfhe  two 
sections,  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  the 
joint  resolution  annexing  Texas  ha^  a  provision 
that  f'ojir  more  slave  States  may  be  carved  ont  of 
that  temto'ry.  To  say  nothing  of  this,  the  Souih 
has,  ouT*o"f  territory  thus  acquired,»o:ic  more 
State,  tw_o  niore  United  States  Senators7"l£ud 
nine  more  Representatives,  than  theTFri  e  States  ; 


and  yet  they  keep  up  the  cry  of  aggression  !  ag 
gression  !    against  the  North.  ^ 

Another  inquiry  here  suggests  itself.  What 
has  been  the  cost  of  the  territory  purchased  by 
the  United  States,  and  w  o  paid  for  it,  the  peo 
ple  of  the  free  or  slave  States  ?  I  have  spent  a 
good  deal  of  time  and  labor  in  collecting,  from 
the  documents  in  the  Government  archives  and 
oitber  sources,  the  aggregate  cost  of  our  acquired 
territory.  Many  of  the  items  can  be  accurately 
stated  ;  others  have  to  be  estimated.  The  ex 
pense  of  the  Mexican  war  is  given  by  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  in  his  report  in  1851.  (Ap 
pendix  to  Globe,  vol.  23.  p.  21.)  Below,  we  give, 
in  a  table,  the  result  of  our  investigations,  and, 
where  we  have  been  obliged  to  form  estimates, 
have  been  careful  not  to  overstate  them  :  \/ 

Louisiana  Territory  purchased,  in  1803 $15.000.000 

Interest  paid  on  same 8.327.353 

Florida  bought  of  Spain 5.000  000 

Interest  paid  on  same 1,430.000 

Texas,  fin-  boundary  claim 10.000,000 

Texas,  for  indemnity  claim 10.000,000 

Texas,  for  creditors  in  Thirty-third  Congress 7.750,000 

ndian  expanses,  all  kinds  inclusive  (estimate)..    5,000.000 

To  purchase  navy,  p^y  troops  ("estimate) 5.000,000 

All  other  expenditures  not  included  above  (esti 
mate) 3,000.000 

Expense  of  Mexican  war 217,175,575 

Soldiers'  pensions  and  bounty  lands  (estimated).    7,000.000 

Expenses  of  Flo  ida  war 100.000,000 

Soldiers'  pensions  and  bounty  lands  (estimate)...  15.000,000 

To  remove  Indians.  &c.  (estimated)  5.000,000 

Amount  paid  for  Vew  Mexico,  by  treaty 15,000,000 

Paid  to  extinguish  Indian  titles  (estimated) 100,000,000 

Paid  t<>  Georgia 3.082.000 

Paid  for  Arizona,  purchased  of  Mexico. 10,000.000 


Tears  fiHed  Tears  fitted   Difference 
from  slave,  from  free    favor    of 


$842.764,928 


Who  paid  the  bills?  Let  us  see.  I  fina  rjy* 
the  researches  I  have  made  from  official  docu 
ments.  and  other  reliable  sources  of  information, 
that  from  1791  to  IgjOthe  total  revenue  collect 
ed  from  customs  is  asTTSllows  —  I  bring  it  up  to 
this  time,  as  most  of  my  calculations  are  made 
up  to  18oO  :  ^ 

Whole  amount  of  revenue  collected  ...............  $1,169,299,265 

Amount  of  revenue  in  free  States  ..................  932.222,911 

Expenses  of  collecting  in  free  States  .............  36.894.926 

Net  sum  p;iid  into  Treasury  from  free  States..  895  327,985 

Amount  of  revenue  in  slave  States  ...............  237.076,354 

Expenses  of  collecting  in  slave  States  ............  17.362,393 

Net  sum  paid  into  Treasury  from  slave  States  219.713,965 

Sxcess  paid  by  free  States  ...........................  675,614,024 

•*'  '  "  '  '  ••_  ** 

f~  Thus,  facts  and  figures  prove  that,  while'The 

I  slave  States  have  taken  the  "  lion's  share  "  from 
territory  purchased,  the  free  States  have  paid 
-  FOURTHS  of  the  purchase-money.Jr  —  m 
ourth.  Let  us  look  at  some  of  tHe  offices 
under  the  General  Government,  and  see  whether 
the  S'»uth  has  had  its  share.  I  have  prepared 
from  the  official  records  the  following  table. 
which  speak*  for  itself.  From  this,  it  appears 
the  South,  with  six  millions,  ^have  over  fj[irff-n 
fifths  oflne  imporfflfolfices,  and  the  XorJ£, 
^wFtti  thirteen  millions,  less  than  fagp-fifths.  ll 
have  lookl^  into"  fheu  localities  fromwnich  our 
foreign  ministers,  consuls,  and  other  important 
officers,  have  oeen  takent  and  find  that  the  Sojjth 
have  had  rnor"  than,  double  the  number  to  which 

l  they  have  been  entitled  by  their  relative  popu- 


/t 


Officers. 

States.  Slates. 

President  of  U  States...  48  26 
President  of  the  Senate, 

protem  .............  .  .......  62  11 

Speaker  of  the  House...  45  25 

Secretary  of  State  .........  40  29 

Secretary  of  War  .........  38  34 

Secretary  of  Navy  .........  30  30 

Attorney  General  .........  42  27 

Chief   Justice  Supreme 

Court  U.  States  .........  57  9 

Associate  Justices  of  Su 

preme  Court  U.  States  225  194 


48 
61 


232 


•n 

<»  *• 


617  385 

The  South  have  not  been  contented 
nopolizing  nearly  all  the  great  offices  in  the 
country,  but  they  make  a  lordly  claim  to  all  the 
subordinate  places.  In  all  the  Departments  in 
this  city,  Northern  men  have  been  crowded  out 
to  make  way  for  Southerners.  I  find,  in  a  speech 
which  I  made  in  the  Thirty-fourth  Congress,  the 
following  table,  which  I  carefully  prepared  from 
the  Blue  Book.  From  this,  it  appears  that  the 
North,  taking  their  population  as  a  basis,  are 
fairly  entitled  to  more  than  two-thirds,  yet  they 
get  only  about  one-fourth.  OhTTBe*  aggressive  I 

North !  — **  *«r 

Difference 

Whole  No.  From  slave  From  free  in  favor 
employed,     territory,     territory.    ofSmtth. 


Departments. 

State 

Treasury 

Interior 

War 

Navy 

Post  Office 

Attorney  Gen.. 


1.242 


17 

285 

349 

64 

39 

47 

5 

806 


13 
160 
191 
20 
13 
43 
1 

441 


4 
125 
158 
44 
26 
4 
4 

365 


Just  look  at  the  committees  of  both 
in  the  last  Congress,  and  then  cry  out  "  Northern  \ 
aggression."    Of  the  twenty^wo  important  com-  i 
mittees  in  the  Senate7"ffle—8lPSve  States  had  the 
chairman   upon  sixteen,  and  the  free  Statessjg. 
And  of  the  twent^Wt  important  committeesaa<5r 
the  House,  tneoouth  had   the  chairman  upon 
seventeen,  and  the  North  eiaht.     Thirteen  million^ 


hea 

while   sx 
at  the  hea 


^ 

the  North*$!r£  represented  at  We- 
standing  committees  in  Congress, 
ion  in  theSouth  are  represented 
thirtggyge  slandin  g  committees. 
This  packing  operamm  on  committees  to  favor 
the  South  was  no  new  thing  in  the  Thirty-fifth 
Congress  ;  they  have  always  had.  it  in  just  that 
kind  oLaway;  Such  Northern  aggression  !  It 
should  IbeTSorne  in  mind  that  these  cormnjttfes 
shape  the  whole-legislation  of  the  cownljj^. 

Again  nSolt  at  the  Senate  committees  of  this 
Congregs  ;  out  of  twenty-two  committees,  the 
Srmth"Eave  the  chairman*  ufkm  sixteen  and  the 
North  on  sixj  and  upon  every  single^ne  <  f  the 
fourteen  important  committees,  TJfflTBIkv.  States 
havVf  Ull  the  chairmen.  ^)f  the  e  __ 

States  representW'fti  the  Senate,  fourteen  are 
tof|ny  disfranchised  upon  the  heads  of  the  Sen- 
areVcommTOJEffi  while  twentyf  )ur  Republican 
Senator^Tr^presenting  moferJnan  twelve  million 
of  the  people  of  the  Union,  out  of  out?  "uTTfTred 
and  twenty-five  places  on  said  committees,  get 
only  thjrffiBrne,  and  that  at  the  taU-^noof  every  ', 
one  {JpTnwhich  they  are  placed.  1  call  upon 


/the  country,  North  and  South,  to  look  at  this 
|  beautiful  picture  of  nationality,  equality,  Democra 
cy,  and  a  magnanimous,  generous  Soutffe*1^?*' 

Fourth.'*in  fSOTTthe  se'aT'of  the~Greneral  Gov- 
ernmUftTwas,  by  virtue  of  a  previous  act  of  Con 
gress,  removed  to  the  slave  territory  where  it 
now  stands.  Washington  was  then  nearly  an 
unbroken  wilderness  ;  now  it  numbers  nearly 
seventy  thousand  inhabitants.  Northern  votes 
brought  the  seat  of  Government  here^*9lfd  itT!a"s 
been  built  up,  to  a  very  great  extent? by  Northern 
treasure.  These  splendid  massive  piles  of  mar 
ble,  which  rear  their  lofty  columns  in  every  di 
rection,  in,  this  city,  were  built  by  Gwmmfjffa 
money.  Who  graded  the  beautiful  lawnstnat 
stretch  themselves  out  around  these  buildings 
like  some  panoramic  fancy  sketch  ?  Who  planted 
the  shade  trees  that  ornament  them?  Govern 
ment  money  did  all  this.  Yes,  sir,  the  Federal 
Treasury  has  been  depleted  for  the 
years  of  its  Jjumflfts  an^  ^ens  of 
build  up  this" great  city  upon  slave  territory. 
Who  gets  the  benefits?  Principally  the  "slave 
States.  Washington  city  furnishes  a  great  mar- 
k*eT"fo?  Southern  produce,  raised  in  Virginia  and 
Maryland.  The  Government  not  only  has  built 
fhiB  city,  but  annually  appropriates  enormous 
sums  from  the  Federal  Treasury  to  supportil. 
It  grades  and  lights  its  streets,  paves  its  walks. 
It  has  gone  seventeen  miles  up  the  Potomac, 
and  plundered  the  national  Treasury  of  about 
five  million  dollars,  to  furnish  the  city  with 
splendid" water-works. ffit  indirectly  feeds  and 
clothes  a  large  number  of  its  inhabitants.  It 
furnishes  their  swaddling-clothes  when  first  they 
open  their  eyes  upon  the  light  of  creation,  and 
pays  the  sexton's  bill  when  life's  fitful  scenes  are 
over. 

But  I  will  do  no  injustice  to  the  good  people 
of  the  city  of  Washington,  but  will  give  them  an 
item  of  credit  which  they  may  file  in  set-off 
against  my  general  allegations.  It  is  this  :  they 
gratuitously  furnish  an  army  of  patriotic  men 
who  are  exceedingly  anxious  to  serve  their 
country,  in  places  of  trust  and  profit,  who  will, 
just  as  circumstances  require,  sing  paeans  to 
DOUGLAS  or  SEWARD,  BOCOCK  or  SHERMAN,  al 
ways  pitching  their  key-note  to  the  tune  of  the 
"  Ipave.8  and  fishes."  And.  as  evidence  of  their 
patriotism  ancTToyalty  to  the  Constitution,  we 
have  heard  many  of  their  numbers,  day  after 
day,  during  the  sitting  of  this  Congress,  vocif 
erously  applauding  disunion  sentiments  uttered 
upon  this  floor,  which,  IT  Carried  into  practical 
operation,  would  raze  this  magnificent  Capitol  to 
the  ground,  a  heap  of  smouldering  ruins,  light 
up  theirhouses  with  the  torch-light  of  the  incen 
diary,  desolate  their  fields,  murder  their  wives 
and  children  in  a  war  of  strife,  and  make  this 
great  city  only  a  fit  habitation  for  the  owls  and 
bats.  ^ 

"""Having  shown  that  the  North  has  been  gen 
erous  to  the  South,  and  fulfilled  all  its  constitu 
tional  obligations  to  her  in  letter  and  in  spirit,  I 
now  desire,  in  all  fairness,  to  examine  the  other 
side  of  this  question  ;  and,  in  discharging  this 
part  of  my  duty,  I  shall  "carry  the  war  into 
Africa" 


1.  Article  one  of  the  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  provides  that — 

r«  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establish 
ment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof: 
or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the.  press  ;  or  the 
right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition 
the  Government  for  a  redress  of  grievances." 
»I  charge  that  the  South  has  not  always  in  good 
faith  lived  up  to  the  above  provision,  inasmuch 
as  that  section  of  the  Union,  for  a  great  number 
of  years,  by  Congressional  action,  aided  by 
Northern  Democrats,  refused  to  receive  petitions 
coming  from  the  people  of  the  free  States.  Gag 
tions.  by  which  the  pctitionsTmhe  people 


wereTreated  with  contempt,  were  from  year  to 
year  forced  through  Congress.  For  years  the 
people  sent  up  to  the  Ca*pTfol  their  memorials, 
and  they  were  summarily  met.  and  their  peti 
tions  kicked  out  of  doors  in  both  houses  of  Con 
gress.  Fo7*a  long  time  this  war  of  the  slave- 
holding  interest  against  the  people  was  waged 
with  fierceness,  but  at  length,  through  the  deter 
mined  will  and  perseverance  of  the  "  old  man 
eloquent,"  aided  by  his  patriotic  compeers,  the 
rights  of  American  citizens  were  once  more  re 
stored,  and  the  Constitution  vindicated  against 
those  who  had  rudely  assailed  it. 

2.  The  South  has  undertaken,  in  carrying  out 
their  aggressive  policy  upon  the  North,  to  r< 
the  Territorial  policy  of  the  Government,  as  es 
tablished  ftfltS  founders,  and  concurred  in  by 
every  National  Administration  for  more  than 
half  a  century. 

I  shall  not  now  stop  to  argue  the  constitu 
tional  right  of  Congress  to  inhibit  slavery  in  the 
Territories,  for  that  has  been  successfully  done 
a  thousand  times  before,  upon  the  floors  of  Con 
gress  and  in  other  places ;  I  have  already  said 
mainly  what  I  desire  to  upon  that  point. 

As  we  have  shown— from  the  passage  of  the 
ordinance  of  1787  to  the  establishment  of  Oregon 
Territory  in  I'£'4S — the  polioy  of  every  depart 
ment  of  the  Government  was  uniform;  that  Con 
gress  had  the  right  under  the  Constitution  to 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  Territories  of  thu  United 
States.  Hence  it  follows,  that  the  introduction 
of  the  Wilmot  proviso  was,  in  no  proper  sense,  an 
infringement ;  up~on  Southerorights  ;  for  it  had 
been  made  a  great  fundanfeTffaTprinciple  of  the 
Government  itself.  The  very  converse  of  this 
proposition  was  true,  that  the  resistance  of  th^ 
South  to  the  application  of  this  wholesome  rule 
to  the  territory  acquired  by  the  treaty  with  Mex 
ico,  was,  per  se,  an  aggression  upon  Northern 
rights. 

*JU  this  juncture  of.affairs  in  this  country,what 
right  had  the  South  to  step  up  to  the  North  and 
demand  a  new  policy?  What  right  had  the 
Southern  States  to  carry  their  local  laws  into 
{  the  Territories,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  people  of 
the  free  States? 

But  our  Southern  friends  claim  what  they  call 
an  equal  right  in  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  demand  they  make  does  not 
stop  with  an  "equal"  balancing  of  ihe  scales. 
They  demandmore.  They  not  only  ask  to  carry 
with  them'infcJ  The  Territoilef^verything  which 
the  common  law  recognizes  as  property — every 
thing"  "a§  property  which  the  JWOplFbf  the  free 


'•*»!». 

States  can  carry  with  them  ;  but  they  demand  to 
carry  and  plant  upon  free  territory  a  system  of 
involuntary  serv^tj^de,  which  invades  the  rights 
of  the  free  JaVtQjrer  from  the  North,  robs  him  of 
his  capUaL  disgraces  him  in  sojjjgjy.  and  in  the 
end.  artves  him  away,  as  I  shall  hereajjjer  show. 

If  it  is  said  toe  Constitution,  proprio  vigore, 
establishes  slavery  in  the  Territories,  I  answer, 
that  is  begging  the  question.  We  deny  it ;  and 
that  is  the  very  question  now  in  issue  which  the 
PEOPLE,  and  not  the  Sum-erne  Court  of  the  United 
States,  have  got  to  settle. 

3.  The  terms  upon  which  Texas  was  annexed 
to  the  United  States  were  unjust  to  the  North 
and  free  SJajjes.    This  was  a  SoutherDygga^jug, 
to  strengthen  the  slave  intgjggjin  tmsc3antry. 
Its  whole  history  shows  it.jt  The  joint  resolutions 
providing  for  annexation  provided  for  the  forma 
tion  of  four  new  States  out  of  this  terri&ry  ;  and 
in  fairness  to  the  frene^Stejjes,  at  least  an  equal 
portion  sHould  have  beenfree  terrUory ;  but.  in- 
st^ad  of  this,  they  provide  that  aft  territory  SQuth 
of  36°  30'  should  be  left  open  to  slavery,  and  all 
north  of  that  line  free.    Now,  any  one  who  will 
take  pains  to  Jook  upon  a  map  of  Texas,  will 
find  only  a  mere  fragment   lying   north  of   the 
Missouri  compromise  line.     It  is  too  small  ever 
to  make  a  single  State,  and  is  a  virtual  surren 
der  of  the  whole  territory  to  slavery,  under  the 
mjjggr^le  pretence  of  a  dj^jpn.    Mr.  Buchanan, 
then  a  member  of  the  Senate,  voted  for  the  ex 
tension  of  the  Missouri  compromise  line  through 
Texas,  and  made  a  speech  in  favor  of  it.  thereby 
acknowledging,  as  Mr.  Benton  says,  in  his  Thirty 
Years'  View,  the  vaMUy  and  constitutionality 
of  the  Missouri  compromise. 

4.  The  next  aggression  upon  the  North  which  I 
shall  notice,  was  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  com 
promise.      The  history  of  that  compromise  has 
been  so  thoroughly  discussed  before  the  country, 
that  a  repetition  of  it  is  unnecessary.     It  is  suf 
ficient  to  say  that  it  was  a  Southern  measure. 
Upon  the  vote  on  the  question  of  admitting" Mis 
souri  with  the  restriction,  twenty  Senators  from  the 
Sjiujh  jroti'd  for  it — only  two  against  it.     In  the 
"House  of  Representati VPS,' upon  ^be  vote  insert 
ing  the  Missouri  restriction,  thjrty-nine  Southern 
Representatives  voted  for  itTlSnirjhjrrty-seven 
against.     We  have  not  only  the  receded  votes 
to  show  this  a  Southern  measure,  but  other  test 
imony  direct  to  the  point.      Charts.  Pjncknev. 
of  South^C^arolina.  who  was  a  member  of  that 
Congress  aiifV  voted  against  the  bill,  in  a  letter^ 
dated  ^  Congress   HaJl.    Morch    2.   1£2J^   fflfe'e 

-o'clock  at  night."  speaking  of  the  Missouri  com 
promise,  said  : 

"  It  is  considered  here  by  the,  slaveholding  States  as  a  great 

'-'  •'-'&'-•& 
JMr.  Benton.  in  his  Thirty  Years  in  the  United 

States-  Senate,  says  :         ~nr.n-r 

"  This  [the  Missouri  compromise]  was  the  work  of  the 
.  sustained  by  the  UNITED  VOICE  OF  Mr.  MoxROK;g  CABI 
NET,  the  united  voice  of  the  SonyjMjyJjggatorsyand  a  ma 
jority  of  the  Southern  Representatives. 

r.  Monroe's  cabinet  then  consisted  of  John 
Q-iincy  Adams.  S-cretary  of  State  :  John  C. 
Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War ;  William  H.  Craw 
ford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  Smith  Thornp- 


Fson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  ;  John  McLean, 
master  General ;    and  William  Wirt,  Attorney; 
General. 

No  special  pleading,  no  circumlocution  of  ar 
gument,  no  declamation,  can  destroy  or  blot  out 
these/jjg£s.  There  they  stand,  and  there  they 
will  forever  stand,  as  conclusive  proof  that  the 
Missouri  compromise  was  a  Southern  measure  ; 
the  "  work  of  the  South,"  and  a  "  great  Southern 
triumph."  The  considereration  received  by  the 
South  for  ttitT'Pe'striction  was  paid  down  by  the 
admjssion  of  Missouri  as  a  slave  Ste 

This  leads  to  anoffier  inquiry: 
stood  by  their  own  compromise,  orvio  ed  it  ? 
This  question  too,  shall  be  answeredn&y  stub 
born  factg — facts  which  politicians  neither  North 
nor  South  can  ever  disprove.  In  the  Senate,  upon 
the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  aJBfij&a^. 
Southern  Senators  voted  for  it ;  two  agaiM^nT" 
In  fhe  House,  sixtgnine  SoulEefn  members*voled 
for  it  j  and  /jja-eagamst  it.  And  yet  we  are  coolly 
to~fcf,  becausea  piToYthern  man  introduced  the  bill, 
it  is  a  ^orthernm^^e.  Will  gentlemen  from 
the  South J=stana~up"'iG ere  and  tell  me  that  a  bill 
which  commanded  the  votes  of  eighty-eight 
Southern  men,  with  only  eleven  against  it,  was  not 
a  Soujhjgiimeasure  •  If  it  be  sa-id  Kansas  and 
NebraskawTft  be  eventually  free  States,  my  an 
swer  is,  npjthjinkjs  to  the  South  for  that.  I 
charge,  then,  tnat  the  Missouri  compromis  was 
a  Souther^  measure  ;  and  that  the  Southern  men 
went  almost  entirely  in  a  body  for  a  violation  of 
their  own  cojaaact — a  compact  to  which  they 
had  made  themseT^giykjjarty. 

5.  My  next  charge  against  the  South  is,  that, 
after  it  hadbrokendown  the  Missouri  restriction, 
under  the  pfefence  that  the  people  of  a  territory 
were,  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  to  be  '•  left 
perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  own  do 
mestic  insjjjjujykms  in  theftr  own  way,"  it  under- 
toolf^to  foF(j|~jjyjavery  into  Kansas,  first  by  vio 
lence,  and  secondly J^JD-^pd-  V 

The  first  election  'nelttin  Kansas  was  on  the 
29th  day  of  November,  1854_.  The  polls  were 
taken  forcible"  possession  of  by  a  horde  of  armed 
ruffians  from  the  slave  States;  and.  out  of  2,258 
votes  cast  for  General  Whitfield.  the  Democratic 
candidate  for  Congress,  l^jffi.  were  thrown  by 
those  lawless  invaders.  These  facts  appear  in 
the  report  of  a  committee  of  the  Thirty-fourth 
Congress,  sent  out  Uyrfie  House  to  investigate 
theserratids.  (See  House  Document,  No.  200, 
first  sessiWthirty-fourth  Congress.)  ^ 

In  January  and  February,  18^5.  a  census  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Terr:tory*was  taken,  by 
order  of  the  Governor  ;  and  2^905  men  were 
found,  by  this  census,  qualified  torote  for  num 
bers  of  a  Territorial  Legislature.  On  the  30th 
of  March,  of  the  same  year,  an  election  for  mem 
bers  of  a  Territorial  Legislature  was  holden.  At 
this  election,  another  armed  foray  was  made  into 
the  Territory,  and _6,3J)_9  votes  were  returned  as 

St.     A  siibsequenfrfWestigSfton   proved  only 


jjast 


legal ^rotes  thrown,  leaving  4^900  illegal 
voes  cast  by*ruffian  iuvad  r-. 

The  Territorial  Legislature  chosen  at  this 
worse  than  mock  election  passed  the  infamous 
"  Kansas  code " — a  compilation  of  laws  worse 


8 


than  the  code  of  Draco.  This  illegitimate  Leg 
islature  passed  an  act,  providing,  that  in  October, 
J^yJJ,  the  people  should  vote  whether  a  Consti 
tutional  Convention  should  be  called  or  not.  The 
bonafide  citizens  of  the  Territory  spurned  the  act 
of  these  "  usurpers,-'7  and  refused  to  participate 
in  the  election.  A  few  tools  of  the  Administra 
tion  voted;  and  the  bogus  Legislature,  on  the 
of  February,  1JJ&L  passed  an  act  providing 
or  the  election  of  aele  gates  to  frame  a  State 
Const:  ution.  The  law  providing  for  the  Con- 
ventii  n  and  election  of  delegates  required  a  cen 
sus  to  be  taken,  and  the  votes  registered,  in  the 
thirty-fouj^gunties  recognized  as  election  dis 
tricts.  iQ^nmeteen  of  these  thirty-four  counties, 
there  was  no^fhsus  taken  ;  and  in  fi%gft,  of  the. 
thirty-four,  there  was  no  registry  of  voters.  Gov 
ernor  Walker,  in  his  letter^oT  resignation,  says 
these  fifteen  disfranchised  counties  contained 
more  voters  than  were  east  in  the  whole  Terri 
tory  at  this  election.  This  election  was  a  mock 
ery,  and  the  main  body  of  the  Free-State  men 
very  properly  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  it.  SL 

-,-tMi.     .» 

Subsequently,  the  people  of  Kansas,  at  their 
Territorial  election  in  October,  1857,  achieved 
an  overwhelming  Free-  Stafe^ictoryt**  After  this. 
the  Convention  of  ''usurpers"  assembled,  and 
framed  the  atrocious  "  Lecompton  Constitution." 
These  "  usurpers  "  did  not  dare  to  submit  this 
Constitution  to  a  fair  vote  of  the  people,  for  they 
knew  they  would  spurn  it  :  so  they  provided  that 
"  no  alteration  should  be  made  to  affect  the  right 
of  property  in  tlie  ownership  of  slaves  until  after 

" 


18(>4  ;v  and  then  provided,  in  "the  schedule,  that 


it  should  be  submitted  to  the  people,  and  the 
ballots  should   contain,   "./iw^Jjjje   Constitution 

with  slavery,  or  for  the  Constitution   without 

..  J 

slavery! 

~~At  the  election  on  the  21st  of  December,  1857, 
the  pro-slavery  clause  was  voted  into  thi8~Uon- 
stitutioii  by  illegal  votes  and  false  returns. 
These  frauds  were  investigated  by  the  Governor 
of  the  Territory,  and  It  was  shown  that,  "at  Ox 
ford,  where  there  were  but  forty-two  votes,  all 
iold.  over  ^e  thousand  votes  were  returned.  At 


Shuwuee,  where  there  were  but  forty  le^al  votes. 
twelve  hundred  votes  were  returned  :  and  from 
DfilawartTprossing,  which  had  only  forty-three 
legal  votes,-  four  hundred  votes  were  returned. 
I  have  not  stopped  to  even  glance  at  cities 
sacked,  peaceable  citizens  murdered  in  cool 
biood,  public  highways  lined  with  assassins  and; 
robbers  —  burglaries,  arsons,  and  other  crimes, 
committed  by  border-ruffian  raids  into  Kan 
sas  —  but  have  briefly  given  an  authentic  history 
.  of  pro-slavery  violence  and  fraud  at  the  ballot- 
box,  up  to  the  time  the  Lecomptoji  swindle  was 
sent  to  Congress  by  James  Buchanan  '**" 

Well  knowing  these  facts,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  not  only  sent  this  Constitution  to 
Congress,  with  a  message  urging  its  adoption, 
but  exerted  the  whole  power  ;j;i<l  patronage  of 
his  Administration  to  force  .it.  through  Congress. 


Is  pro^£_dema1icted  ?  Letmecall  attention  to 
some  remarks  made  in  this  House  by  an  honor 
able  member  from  New  Jersey,  who  was  also  a 


-" 


iber  of   the    last    Congress.     I  mean  Mr. 
ADIUIN.     He  said  : 

"  During  the  Lecompton  controversy,  I  was  approached 
in  such  a  manner  as  shows  corruption  on  the  part  of  the 
Administration  Jf  I  had  given  my  support  to  the  Lecomp 
ton  podcy.  I  was  assured  that  I  could  secure  a  foreign  ap 
pointment  for  one  most  near  and  dear  to  me."  —  Daily  Globe 
of  December  13. 

is  but  a  solitary  case,  among  many  oth 
ers.  No  greater  outrage  was  ever  attempted  to 
be  perpetrated  upon  the  people  of  the  freeStates; 
and  yet  it  was  most  emphatically  a  "SouUia-ii 
measure.  Here  is  the  proof:  in  the  S'-niale".  'every 
!Joiiin~ern  member,  with  two  exceptions,  voted 
for"  iTi  e  bill  ;  and  in  the  HoVi'seT'llie  enj're  Soul!:, 
with  sevengxceptions,  supported  the  measure. 

The  measure  finally  assumed  the  shape  of  the 
English  _bjll,  wenVTo  the  people  of  Kansas,  and 
was  by  '  ihenr  ^rejected  with  scorn  and  contempt 
by  more  than  ten  thousand  majority. 

This  is  a  "specimen  article"  of  Democratic 
popular  sovereignty.  I  leave  the  country  to 
make  further  comments. 

6.  The  South  have  undertaken  to  drive  free 
labor  from  the  Territories  by  force  of  judicial  con 
struction. 

I  here  refer  to  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  in 
which  a  majority  of  the  court  have  traveled  out 
of  the  record  to  overturn  the  well-settled  opin 
ions  of  a  great  majority  of  American  jurists  and 
statesmen,  agreed  to  and  acquiesced  in  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  for  more  than  sixty  years. 
When  a  majority  of  the  judges  decided  Dred 
Scott  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  not  rightfully  in  court,  it  was  an  end  of  the 


no    rg 
.  Tfut 


.  ut  when  they  TinHertook  to  travel  out  of 
theTecord,  and  give  opinions  involving  questions 
not  legally  before  them,  their  opinions  have  no 
bi  lulinjr  force  upon  the  people  of  the  country. 
The  able  amT~conclusive  opinions  of  Justices 
McLean  and  Curtis,  upon  the  question  of  Con 
gressional  intervention  in  the  Territories,  are 
entitled  to  equal  respect  with  those  of  a  major 
ity  of  thecourt.  Great  political  questions,  in 
volving  "matters  of  national  policy,  are  for  the 
people^,  and  not  th^^reme^cour'L 

~James  lJnchanan*"ente"Han'ied  and  expressed 
the  same  opinions  now  entertained  by  the  Re 
publican  party  upon  this  question,  in  1841.  On 
the  7th  of  July  of  that  year,  he  made  a  speech 
in  the  United  States  Senate  on  the  bank  ques 
tion.  Spe^kmgk  of  the.J['acJL-that  the  United 
States  courthad  decided  a  national 

/  .  i     ,  •         11          <^rfamm  "^"^  / 

.stit.utioiiyl.  he  said  : 

"Now.  if  it  were  not  unparhamemary  language,  and  if  \ 
did  not  desire  to  treat  all  my  friends  on  this  [Whig]  side  of 
the  House  with  the  respect  which  T  feel  for  them.  I  would 
sa  that  the  idea  of  the  question  having  been  settled  so  as 
to  bind  the  consciences  of  members  of  Congress  when  voting 
on  the  present  bill,  is  ridiculous  and  absurd.  If  all  the 
judges  and  all  the  lawyers  in  Christendom  had  decided  in 
the  affirmative,  when  the  question  is  thus  brought  home  to 
me  as  a  legislator,  bound  to  vote  for  or  against  a  new  char 
ter.  upon  oath  to  support  the  Constitution.  I  must  exercise 
my  own  judgment.  I  would  treat  with  profound  respect 
the  arguments  and  opinions  of  judges  and  constitutional 
lawyers  :  but  if.  aftf-r  all.  they  fail  to  convince  me  that  the 
law  was  constitutional,  I  should  be  guilty  of  perjury  before 
high  Heaven  it  I  voted  in  its  favor. 

''But  even  if  the  Judiciary  had  settled  the  question.  I 
should  never  hold  myself  bound  by  their  decision  while  acting 
in  a  legislative  character  Unlike  the  Senator  from  Massa 
chusetts,  [Mr.  Bates.]  I  shall  never  corisent  to  place  the  liber 
ties  of  the  people  in  the  hands  of  any  judicial  tribunal." 

*        A 


- 


precisely  as  I  dp,  that  they  are  ruling  it  now. 
A«5c^fl*ding  to  fiie  last  census,  the  free  white  pop 
ulation  of  the  United  States  was.  in  gross  num 
bers,  eighteen  millions,  and  while  this  favored 
class  —  the  slaveholders  —  numbered  less  than 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  they  rule 
seventeen  and  a  half  million  not  possessed  of 
slave  property.  African  slavery  has  been  con 
verted  into  an  eiigine  of  politiggj^power.  through 
the  agency  of  the_jD(mocratic  party.  Under  what 
article  or  sectioiT*m  the  Constitution  has  an 
aristocracy  of  wealth,  combined  in  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  perso'.s,  "  ruled  "  the  teeming 
millions  of  this  country  for  ''sixty  out  of  seventy 

o  11  --      •-  -  ^liuut, 

Years.''- 

HCr  it  is  asked  how  the  Sou^b,  being  in  the  mi 
nority,  has  succeeded  in  controlling  the  country? 
I  answer,  it  has  been  done  by  creating  and  fos 
tering  a  spirit  of  sectionalism,  through  the  agency 
of  party  maqhin^eryT ""Colonel^Bei  ton,  who  is 
certainly  goocT^authority  in  this*Tnatter,  in  his 
Thirtvjfears  in  the  Senate,  says  that  Mr.  Cal- 

I    1  ~  t  r*r*n.  •    „.»,... 

t  the    1 


Now,  this  same  James  Buchanan  stultifies  him 
self ;  allows  the  South  to  back  him  down  from  the 
tenable  position  he  occupied  in  1^1;  takes  the 
back  track,  and  declares  this  same'  Supreme 
Cflurt  has  '•  made  a  final  settlement  of  the"sia*v%ry 
question  in  the  Territories."  that  "  neither  Con 
gress  nor  a  Territorial  Legislature,  nor  ANY  HUMAN 
POWKR,  can  annul  or  impair  ;"  and  yet,  because 
the  people  refuse  to  follow  him  into  the  very 
sewers  of  absolute  construction,  judicial  despot 
ism,  and  tyranny,  the  President  insults  their 
honesty  and  intelligence,  by  denouncing  them  as 
jiraitors  and  fanatics. 

""The  (i'n'fir  /icTum  of  the  court  in  the  Dred  Scott 
case,  relative  to  Congressional  sovereignty  over 
the  Territories,  has  been  caught  up  by  the  South, 
and  an  attempt  made  by  Democratic  politicians 
to  give  it  the  authority  of  Igw^  This  is  an  as 
sumption  against  right  :  a  d-'inand  set  up  against 
the  people  of  the  North  wjthout  authority.  The 
people  oTTfie  Norjji  were  "neither  p^rJies  nor 
prices  in  the  DrejJJpcott  case^and  hence  they  .  ^, 
are  not  ejjjapped  from  contesting  the  usurpations  I  ho«n 
setup  against  them  by  th*3iLrt.  The  sequence  f""1'  Yent  !\ome  frT  Con^e8S-  and  told  his  friends  that  the 

•**w.i.      ^iiii^    n  ,,          *      fc,wp»ii.n,  .  ff South  could  never  be  united  against  the  North  on  the  tariff 

growing  out  of  these  premises  cannot  be  misun-  f  question.  that  the  811Rar  into,ests  of  Louisiana  would  keep 
derstood.      This  attempt   to  plant  slavery  upon  [her  out;  that  the  basis  nf  southern  union  must  be  shifted  to  J 
free  soil,  and  spread  it  over  every  foot  of  terri-  kthe  SLAVE  QUESTION?'—  Vbl_2, p.  786.  ***/ 

tory  outside  of^Sjate  lines,  merely  because  fiv£f—  This  policy  of  "  uniting  the  slave  States"  upon 

the  slavery  question  was  inaugurated  by  Mr. 
Calhoun.  It  was  persisted  in  by  him  and  his 
followers  until  it  entirely  broke  up  old  party 
lines.  It  destroyed  the  old  Whig  party,  and  com 
pletely  corrupted  and  sectionalized  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  and  placed  it  under  the  control  of 
the  slave  power,  where  it  has  remain*  d  until  this 
day.  The  '•  Texas  Plot,"  Colonel  Benton  declares, 
in  the  work  already  alluded  to,  was^tiriginated 
to  kilTMr.  Van  Buren,  and  it  did  its  work.  He 


men  have   undertaken  TO   say 
noTWg'ally  iHuiv   tlu'in.  is 
able  aggression,  against  the 


so. 


n 

unwarrant- 

of 


States.  ItTsueh  an  unjustifiable  encroacmem 
up"on*The  rights  of  the  free  laboring  H]iilift|js 
of  this  country  as  they  never  will  siyywLM).  Itls 
a  narrow-minded  sectional  policy^  which  can 
never  be  made  nationaffS^the  Union  jja^ut  of 
it.  It  is  a  demand  madeby  less  than  halfja  mil- 
lion  slaveholders  t  f)~rnonopolize  more  than  one 


....        »m*~*aaat     .,         ,.    ,  1       . 

million  square  rmlcs  <>1   terl'itpry,  to  the  exclusion 


had  a  majority  of^votes  at  the  NationaTtonven- 


consequences. 

7.  The,.  South,  although  numerically  less  by 
one-halC'tJiarfihe  North,  claim  the  exclusive  con 
trol  of  the  General  Government.  Men  of  the 
South,  especially  her  ponffiPTans,  seem  to  have 
got  an  idea  into  their  heads  that  they  are  born 
to  rule,  and  the  people  of  the  free  States  are 

te^^^     7  r  I 

bornTo  obey.  It  is  the  boast  of  the  slaveholders 
that  £Agj/Rave  ru^d  and  governed  this  country 
from  its j-nfancy/Listeu  to  what  a  distinguished 
S  nutor  from  South  Carolina  [Mr^H.yjiMOxn]  said 
a  speech  in  the  United  Statesoenate,  March 


of  fw^hty-six  unlliou  freemen,  who  have  no  in-    tion,  in  1844,  at  which  Mr.  Polk  was  nominated; 
terest  in  slaSyBtoperty.  "Tf  is  a  monstrous  ag-  |but   the^South  managed  to  get  the  ^ 

gression.  am^one   that  should  be  met  and  re-    rule,"  wKlcn"  enabled   them  to  defeat  him.     The 
polled  at  every  hazard,  and  without  regard  to'^outh,  in  the  same  Convention,  defeated  the  late 

"TTovernor  Fairfield,  of  my  own   State,   for   the 


n 


overnor 

Vice  Presidency,  and  nominated  Mr.  Dallas, 
although  the  latter  had  but  thirteen  votes  on  the 
first  ballot.  Bfttl 

8.  Another  aggressive  movement  is  now  being 
agitated  in  the  South,  which  is  clearly  against 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws..  I  well  know  dis- 
tinguished  gentlemen  upon  this  floor  have  arisen 
in  their  places  and  denied  any  intent  to  make 
this  matter  a  party  test,  or  to  repeal  the  laws 
which  make  th^gforeign  slave  trade  piracy.  I 
give  them  all  tmTrJe'nen'ts  of  this  disclaimer;  yet 
it  is  not  denied  that  this  is  a  mooted  question  in 
thegouth.  The  President,  in  his  recent  mes- 


sage,  admits  that   the  Wanderer  brought  over 
I  one   cargo,  numbering  three   or  four  hundred. 
!  Again  he  says  :  ;-  Those  engaged  in  this  unlaw- 
.  took  our  country  in  her  infancy,  and,    ful  enterprise  have  been  rigorously   prosecuted, 
sixty  out  of  seventy  years  of  her  exist-  U)Ut    not    ^^    as    much    Access  as  their  crimes  de- 


e  Senator  from  New  York  [^lr.  SKWAHD]  says  thaTyou 
intend  to  take  the  Government  from  us.  that  it  will  pass 
from  our  hands.  Perhaps  what  he  says  is  true — it  may  be; 
but  do  not  forget,  it  can  never  b  •  forgotten,  it  is  written  on 
the  brightest  paire  of  human  history,  that  we,  THE  SLAVE 
HOLDERS  OF  THE 
after  nci.iMt  IHM 

ence.  we  shall  surrender'her  to  you  without  a  stain  upon  i  n  .»  rlmission  whinh   diows  '    deep  svni' 

her  honor,    boundless   in   prosperity,   inca'culable  in   her  I  Served  ,      ana  )  Sym 

strength,  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world."— Ap-t  pathy  of  feeling  with  the  enterprise   among  tne 
><i;.r  i,,  a,,  Congressional  Globe,  vol.  Si, p.  71.  m*A  Southern  people.  If  the  laws  cannot  be  enforced, 

The  honorable  Senator  says.  "  the  slaveholders  |  there  is  no  occasion  for  agitating  for  their  re- 
of  the  South  have  ruled  the  com  tryjsixty  out  of  j  peal  5  and  I  understand  there  has  not  been  a 
seventy  years,"  and  he  understandstne  matter  single  conviction  in  any  of  our  Southern  courts 

-" -«•». r»ntt».  «m»<MMi.lB,-<. 


10 


JLtV 

*     on 


of  any  person  who  has  been  engaged  in  this  ne 
farious  business. 

While  the  people  of  the  free  States,  in  their 
courts,  enforce  the  fugitive  slave  law,  odious  as 
it  is  to  a  large  majority  of  them,  the  South  fails 
to  convict  or  punish  persons  engaged  in  a  trade 
declared  by  the  General  Government  to  be  pira 
cy.  I  leave  the  country  to  iudj^e  between  us. 

Another  clear  aggression  upon  the  rights 


9. 


of  the  free  States  is   a  demandjbr  a  Congres- 
siqnaVcode  to  fasten  slavery*upon*the  peoplfe  of 

^^•i***      -  •          -  1-1       •        *ii  ~  ~~         — 

their  will. 

-IT 


e  Territories  against 


Mr.  Buchan 


an,  in  his  message,  the  mouthpiece  of  his   party,  ([  leges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  severai  States." 

now  owned  and  controlled  by  Southern  men, 

said  : 

.. 

"  I  cordially  congratulate  you  upon  the  final  settlement' 
by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United*States.  of  the  question 
of  slavery  in  the  Territories,  which  had  presented  an  aspect 
so  truly  formidable  at  the  commencement  of  my  adminis 
tration  The  right  has  been  established  of  every  citizen  to 

*  take  his  property  of  any  kind,  including  slaves,  into  the 
common  Territories  belonging  equally  to  all  the  States  of 

p.  the  Confederacy,  and  to  have  it  protected  there  under  the 

/  Federa'  Constitution.  Neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial 
Legislature  nor  any  human  power  has  any  authority  to  an 
nul  or  impair  this  vested  right." 

And  here  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
country  to  the  facts  here  assumed — that  the 
court  has  settled*  this  question — that  the  Consti 
tution  protects  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and 
that  "  neither  Congress  nor  a  Territorial  Leg:s- 
lature,  nor  any  human  power,  has  any  authority 
to  annul  or  impair  this  vested  right."  This  is 
Digmjocracy  iflUU^jO  One  would  think,  by  anal 
ogy  of  reasoning,  that  if  there  is  110  "  liumnn 
power"  on  earth  that  can  even  '•  impair"  the 
right  of  a  slaveholdar  to  his  slave  property  in 
the  Territories,  that  ought  to  be  satisfactory  to 
him;  yet  that  class  dggtand  Federal  legislation 
to  compel  the  free  wn|ie*5faborers  in  the  Territo- 
tories  into  a  servile  srfBmfSlfon — to  kiss  the  hand 
that  strikes  down  their  capital,  and  degrades 
them  to  the  condition  of  meniaji  slaves, 

A  great  leader  in  the  DemocraMc  party — I 
mean  Senator  IVERSON.  of  Georgia — in  a  speech 

.    |n  the  Senate  a  few  weeks  since,  said  : 

"  He  believed,  and  the  Southern  people  believed,  that 
under  the  Constitution  they  had  a  right  to  emigrate  to  any 
of  the  Territories  with  their  slave  property,  and,  when  there. 
Ttave  a  right  lo  the  protection  of  the  law  in  the  enjoyment  of 
that  property,  and  Congress  has  the  power  to  give  that  pro 
tection,  and  IT  IS  ITS  DUTY  TO  DO  IT." 

We  have  here  an  authentic  exposition  of  the 
Kansas-Nebraska  bill.  We  now  understand 
what  the  Democratic  party  mean  when  they  say 
that  "  the  people  of  a  Territory  should  be  left 
PERFECTLY  FREE  to  form  their  own  domestic  in 
stitutions."  First,  that  the  Constitution,  of  its 
own  force,  establishes  slavery  in  the  Territories; 
and,  second,  that  Congress  should  enact  a  code 
placing  rop°s  around  the  necks  of  the  citizens 


stitution — a  despotism  which  prevents  any  at 
tempt,  on  their  part,  through  their  Territorial 
Legislature,  or  otherwise,  to  rid  themselves  of 
what  they  believe  a  positive  evil.  If  the  Consti 
tution  makes  slaves  of  the  blacks  in  the  Territo 
ries  of  the  United  States,  it  only  needs  such  a 
code  as  is  now  demanded  by  the  South  to  make 
slaves  of  the  whites. 

10.  Another  charge  I  have  against  the  South 
is,  the  violation  of  article  four,  section  two,  of 
Constitution,  which  reads  as  follows  : 

"  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  Jprivi- 


t     **•* 


of  article  five  of  the  amendments  to  the 
Constitution,  which  expressly  provides,  that 

*"  No  person    *    *    shall  be  deprived  of  life,  LIBERTY,  or 
property,  without  due  process  of  law." 

*«*  Under  the  Constitution,  a  citizen  of  Maine  on 
lawful  business  has  a  right  to  travel  through  any 
SQ.U them  State  without  molestation,  provided 
heBlimerferes  with  none  of  the  lawful  rights  of 
the  people  of  that  State.  Southern  gentlemen 
travel  tnro'ugh  the  freeJ-y^tes.  and  everywhere 
are  treated  with  becoming  respect  and  conside 
ration.  They  are  suffered  everywhere  to  mingle 
with  the  people  of  the  North,  enjoying  every  right 
possessed  by  the  people  they  are  visiting.  Not 
so  with.^Morthern  men,  when  traveling  in  the 
Southern^  ptes.  There  a  system  of  espionage 
is  in  operation,  exce<  dingly  annoying  to  a  travel 
er.  Strangers  fr&ni  theNgrth,  instead  of  meet 
ing  with  that  g'e'nerousnospitality  which  they 
are  always  ready,  when  at  home,  to  extend 
their  Southern  brethren,  are  watched,  scrutinized, 
questioned  ;  their  baggage  is  overhauled,  their 
persons  searched,  and  upon  mere  suspicion  are 
thrust  into  jail.  A  mere  expression  of  opinion, 
inadvertently  uttered,  in  some  localities,  is  an  un 
pardonable  crime,  for  which  they  are  visited  with 
the  grossest  insults.  Men,  for  merely  uttering 
sentiments  which  have  been  taught  by  Jefferson 
and  other  Southern  men,  have  been  dragged  into 
prison,  lynched,  tarred  and  feathered,  and  their 
lives  threatened  by  infuriated  mobs. 

I  will  refer  to  a  few  recent  cases.  The  CharL^s- 
tonJJ/ercMT-y,  of  the  17th  of  December,  says  — 

f*"That  a  man,  supposed  to  be  an  Abolitionist,  of  dark 
"complexion,  with  black  hair,  and  a  scar  over  the  left  eye, 
about  five  feet  eleven  inches  in  height,  and  calling  himself 
James  W.  Rivers,  was  taken  up  on  the  13th  by  the  vigilant 
comitttee.  tarred  and  feathered,  and  the  right  side  of  his 
head  shaven." 

A  few  weeks  ago,  an  Irishman  who  had  been 
naturalized,  and  had  always  voted  the  Demo 
cratic  Ticket,  as  he  says,  a  citizen  of  Pennsylva 
nia,  while  at  work  on  the  State  Capitol  at 
Columbia,  South  Carolina,  not  in  the  hearing 
of  slaves  or  any  black  man,  but  to  his  associate 
laborers,  uttered  sentiments  not  considered  ex- 


of  a  Territory  opposed  to  it ;  thereby  degrading    actly  orthodox  ;  for  which  he  was  caught,  put  in 
free  white  labor  to  the  same  level  with  African    jail,  stripped,  and  thMy-nine  lashes  put  upon  his 

ba,re  back  f*a  bucket  of  tar  poured  upon  him,  and 

feathers  applied.    lie  was  then  allowed  a  pair  of 


pants"  and,    after   being    imprisoned   a   further 


slave  labor.  Not  only  does  the  South,  through 
its  authorized  aorent,  the  so-called  Democratic 
party,  claim  fhe  right  to  carry  slaves  into  all  the 

Territories  of  the  United  States,  and  there   hold    length  of  time,  was  put  on  board  the  cars  for 
them  by  judicial  construction  ;  but  it  demafPSs if  New  York,  where  he   arrived,  and  related  the 
v*T?6ngressionaT^nterverMon,  by  which   the   iron'  facts  above  given, 
heefof  despotisnTlfiall  be   fastened  upon  the™  A  clergyman,  one  of  the  most  respectable  citi- 
necks  of  all  persons  therein  opposed  to  the  in-  jjzeiis  of  Connecticut,  a  bookseller,  was  arrested 


I 


,  .  «• 


/  in  one  of  the  Southern  States  a  short  time  since  ; 

*  and,  on  supicion.  without  a  shadow  of  evidence 
against  him.  thrust  into  jail,  and  on  the  interfer 
ence  of  some  of  the  citizens  of  his  State  was 

j  finally  liberated  ;  but  not  until  he  had  received 

Insufficient  abuse  to  make  him  a  maniac.  During 
sf"  speech  in  this  House  by  an  honorable  mem 
ber  from  Georgia,  [Mr.  CRAWFORD,]  on  the  15th 
of  December  last,  the  following  colloquy  took 
place  : 

"  Mr.  CRAWFORD.  Beecher  said  that  he  would  preach  the 
8ame  doctrines  in  Virginia  as  in  Massachusetts  Brown 
says:  •  Beecher,  why  don't  you  come  and  do  it?'  I  ask 
you  why  you  do  not  come  on  ? 

"Mr.  KiUjORK.  I  will  answer  the  gentleman,  if  he  will 
permit  meTiwill  tell  the  gentleman  why  Mr  Beecher 
would  not  preach  in  Virginia.  Because  liberty  of  speech  is 
denied  in  the  South  :  and  if  he  were  to  golEEere,  he  wtmI8 
ffet  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers. 
^**M».  CKAWFORD.  Yes.  sir;  not  only  would  he  be  denied 

'-.  liberty  of  speech,  but  he  would  be  denied  personal  liberty 
also,  and  w<mld  be  hung  higher  than  Hainan.'' 

**»Not  only  is  Beecher  threate*BeTTwith  the"*gaP 
lows  if  he  goes  South,  but  the  distinguished 
Senator  from  New  York  is  threatened  with  the 
halter  if  he  is  ever  found  in  that  quarter.  An 
honorable  member  from  Mississippi,  [Mr.  JXvvisJ 


^  \ 


ill  a  speech  on  the   8th  of  December  last,  is  re 
ported  in  the  Globe  to  have  said  : 

j^"**Vii-gitiia  hag  decided,  and  has  hung  the  traitor.  Brown. 
Tind  will  hang  the  traitor,  SEWARD,  if  he  is  found  in  her 

/border.     [Laughter.]"  at~> 

"""Now,  I  put  it  to  our  Southern  friends,  when 
you  and  we  are  both  living  under  the  same 
Constitution  which  declares,  "That  the  citizens 
of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  att  the  privi 
leges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several 
States."  whether  these  things  are  not  unjust 
toward  the  people  of  the  frgaJSiaies  ?  Not  only 
are  the  citizens  of  the  North  threatened  with 
stripes,  imprisonment,  and  death,  if  we  visit  the 
Southern  JStates.  and  that  under  the  summary 
proce?s'Wn'rn( > i >  law.  but.  from  recent  indications, 
peaceable,  unoffending  citizens  in  the  South  are 
to  be  driven  out  by  unlawful  violence,  not  for 
overt  acts — not  for  anything  they  have  done; 
but  merely  for  entertaining  opinions  held  by 
Washington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison— nearly  all 
the  early  fathers  of  the  Republic.  The  Cincin 
nati  Commercial,  of  December  21,  contains  the 
following  narrative,  which  explains  itself:  —r.~ 
j*+  "  Thirty-six  persons  arrived  in  this  city  from  Kentucky, 
f  yesterday,  having  been  warned  to  leave  the  StatWWr  the 
crime  of  holding  slavery  to  be  a  sin.  They  are  from  Berea 
and  vicinity  Mndison  county.  Kentucky,  where  they  were 
living  industrious,  sober,  and  peaceful  lives.  Most  of  these 
persons  are  stopping  at  the  Denison  House,  though  a  por 
tion  have  been  received  at  private  houses 

"They  are  inoffensive  persons,  men  of  peace,  and  would 
not  have  been  driven  from  any  community  in  the  world 
except  one  oppressed  and  benighted  by  the  slave  system. 
They  were  neighbors,  friends,  and  co-workers  of  the  Rev. 
John  G.  Fee.  whose  reputation  as  an  earnest  and  quiet  op 
ponent  of  slavery  is  well  known  to  the  country.  Among  the 
exiles  nre  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Rogers,  principal  of  a  flourishing 
school  at  Berea.  and  his  family;  J.  G.  Reed  and  family ; 
John  S.  Hanson  and  family.  Mr.  Hanson  is  a  native  of 
Kentucky.  HIK!  a  hard- working,  thrifty  man  He  had  re 
cently  erected  a  steam  saw-mill,  and  owns  five  hundred 
acres  of  land  in  Madison  county.  Kentucky.  The  Bev.  J.  F. 
Bough  ton ;  E.  T.  Hayes,  and  S.  Life,  carpenters  ;  A.  G.  W. 

Parker,  a  native  of  South  Carolina ;  Touey.  a  native  of 

Tennessee;   John  Smith,  a  native  of  Ohio,  a  farmer,  who 
has  lived  in  Kentucky  some  years.        *        *        * 

"Mr.  Togers  describes  the  warning  that  he  received  quite 
graphichally.  He  was  in  his  cottage,  when  a  summons  for 
him  to  appear  was  heard.  On  going  to  the  door,  he  discov 


ered  an  imposing  cavalcade,  sixty-five  well-mounted  men 
being  drawn  up  in  warlike  array.  He  wa«  informed  that  he 
had  ten  days  in  which  to  leave  the  State.  This  was  on  the 
23d  of  December.  He  told  them  that  he  had  not  consciously 
violated  any  law  of  the  Commftnweal'h.  and  that,  if  he  had 
unconsciously  done  so.  he  would  be  most  happy  to  be  tried 
according  to  law.  He  was  informed  that  they  did  not  know 
that  he  had  violated  any  law,  but  that  his  principles  were 
incompatible  with  the  public  peace,  and  that  he  must  go." 

I  make  no  comment,  but  leave  the  fair-minded 
men,  North  and  South,  to  pass  judgment  upon 
such  proceedings.  But  I  do  protest,  in  the  name 
of  the  eighteen  million  freemen  in  the  free  States, 
against  a  system  of  vindictive  eaoionage,  which 
arrests  peaceable,  unoffending  (jmzens  upon 
groundless  suspicions,  tries  them  at  the  revolu 
tionary  tribunal  of  Judge  Lynch,  and  then  mur 
ders  them,  under  the  miserable  pretext  of  carry 
ing  into  execution  the  mandates  of  mob  law. 

Who  has  not  heard  of  jTayard  Taylor,  the  cel 
ebrated  traveler,  who  has  been  the  world  over, 
among  savage  and  civilized  men  in  Europe,  Asia. 
Africa,  and  America?  In  a  recent  letter  pub 
lished  by  him,  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  of  Rich 
mond,  Virginia,  breaking  off  a  lecture  engage 
ment  because  Mr.  Taylor  had  at  some  time  been 
a  literary  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tri 
bune,  he  said :  -/~~ 

•;  I   have   traveled   in   all  'he  principal  portions  of  the 
earth  ;   I  know  all  forms  of  government  and   all   religious 
creeds,  from  personal  observation  and  study :  but  nowhere,  i  ; A 
in  any  of  the  lands  or  races  most  bitterly  hostile  to  repnb-  •''} 
licanism  and  Christianity,  have  T   ever  been  subjected  to  a  » 
narrower  or  more  insulting  censorship."  xjr^/ 

In  fifteen  States  in  this  Union,  an  "  American 
citizeu^peaceably  and  lawfully  traveling,  has 
no  more  protection  than  he  would  have  in  a 
land  of  savages,  upon  whom  the  light  of  civili 
zation  had  never  dawned.  It  is  God's  truth,  that 
there  is  not  a  despotic  Government  in  the  Old 
World,  wrhere  an  American  citizen,  living  in  the 
North,  wTould  not  be  better  protected  than  in  the 
slave  States  of  this  Union.  The  "  stars  and 
stripes"  afford  protection  to  the  humbJ^eskftUi- 
zen  abroad,  yet,  upon  our  own  soiL  in  fit'tpgnJStale 
sovereignties,  owing  allegiance  10  the  Federal 
Union  and  to  the  Constitution,  it  gives  no  more 
projection  to  a  freeman  of  the  N^rth^  than  the 
blacK^lag  of  a  West  Indian  piraJe,^ 

This  is  the  legitimate,  natural  effect  of  the 
system  of  Africa^glavery.  Carry  it  into  the 
Territories,  and  iKesame  results  will  follow.  Free 
laborWlll  be  degraded  ;  free  speech  suppressed  ; 
and  free  men,  guilty  of  no  offense  against  the 
laws,  lynched,  tarred  and  feathered,  whipped, 
bung,  and  driven  out,  by  the  menaces,  bowlings, 
and  infuriatedra'vings  of  a  fanatical,  blood 
thirsty  mob.  These  are  the  practical  conse- 
quences,*g?owing  out  of  Democratic  doctrines,  as 
enunciated  and  expounded  in  1^0. 

ll.^Iarraign  the  DetnoTratic  pany  in  the  South 
for  anaRe^npt,  now  being  made  on  their^part,  to 
deprive  the  people  of  the  free  States  of  their 
right  of  FRANCHISE,  secured  to  them  in  article 
two  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and 
in  section  twelve  of  the  amendments  to  the  same. 
These  provisions  secure  to  the  PEOPLE  of  all  the 
States  the  right,  once  in  four  years,  to  elect  a 
President  and  Vice  President  by  a  majority  of 
electoral  votes.  Strange  and  monstrous  as  is 

rf  U.M  m, 


12 


the  proposition,  yet  it  is  no  more  strange  than 
true,  that  a  portion  of  thej^outh  have  undj^- 
taken  to  dicf^to  the  freemen  or'  the  Nojth  as  to 
how  and  fofwhom,  theylmaUvpte.  It  is  substan 
tially  a  proplSsTTion  of  the1  South  to  oversee  the 
North  in  the  exercise  of  the  dearest  right  an 
American  citizen  has  under  the  Constitution — 
the  right  to  act  free  and  untrammeled  at  the 
ballot  box.  The  people  of  the  free  States  were 
gravely  told  by  their  Southern  brethren,  prior  to 
the  last  Presidential  election,  "We  will  permit 
you  to  elect  Buchanan ;  but  if  you  have  the 
audacity  to  elect  Eremont,  we  will  bbpwuT)  the 
Government."  Andwe*&re now substantiaYly told 
the  same  thing;  for  we  have  been  solemnly 
warned,  in  this  House  and  out  of  it.  to  beware 
how  we  vote;  to  be  "careful  and  not  elect  a 

RepublicarPrVesident  in  1860  ;  if  you  do,  we  will 
>  *  «  •    •  » 

resisthis  inaiiffiiraj^n." 

Aifftrmorable  member  from  Georgia,  [Mr. 
CRAWFORD,]  in  a  speech  in  this  House,  December 
15,  said :  «, 

*"  "  Now.  in  recrard  to  the  election  of  a  Black  Republican  I 
«   Presi  'ent.  T  hav"  this  to  say — and  T  speak  the  sentiment  of 
every  Democrat  on  this  floor  from  the  State  of  Georgia — we 
will  never  submit  to  the  inauguration  of  a  Black  Republi 
can  President    [Applause  from  the  Democratic  benches,  and 
ij,   hisses  from  the  Republicans]    I  repeat  it.  sir — and  T  have 
:,.    authority  to  say  so — that  no  Democratic   Representative 
b.   from  Georgia  on  this  floor  will  ever  submit  to  the  inaugu- 
,    ration  of  a  Black  Republican  President    [Renewed  applausej 
./and  hisses."]  ***£ 

Another  honorable   gentleman,  from   Missis- 

sip-n.  rMr.  SINGLETON.]   in  a  speech  upon  this 

floor.  December  21,  speaking  of  the  time  when 

the  South  would  be  in  favor  of  taking  steps  for 

^disunion,  said : 

"  You  ask  me.  when  will  the  time  come ;  when  will  the 
South  be  united  ?   It  will  be  when  you  elftcf  a  Black  Repub- 
|  lican — Ha'e.  Seward.  or  Chase — President'  of  the   United 
"*   States.    Whenever  you  undertake  to  place   such  a  man  to 
*   preside  over  the  destinies  of  the  South,  you  may  expect  to 
see  us  undivided  and  indivisible  friends,  and  to  see  all  par 
ties  of  the  South  arrayed  to  resist  his  inauguration-"        ^J 

But  I  will  defer  what  further  remarks  I  desire 
to  make  under  this  head,  and  finish  them  under 
my  next  point. 

12.  Another  aggression  upon  the  free  States 
is  a  threatened  attempt  to  dissolve  the  Union.  As 
I  mean  to  deal  fairly  in  these  matters.  I  will  not 
charge  this  attempt  upon  the  South,  but  upon 
the  so-called  Democratic  party,  where  it  b^ong-a : 
for  I  thank  HoSvWwe  have  upon  this  floor, 
from  the  sunny  South,  as  noble  a  band  of  patri 
ots  as  ever  rallied  under  the  flag  of  the  Constitu 
tion.  I  refer  to  the  SouJ^grn  Opposition.  Sir, 
the  soul-stirring  appeals  of  the  eloquent  NELSON 
and  his  coadjutors  upon  this  floor,  in  behalf  of 
our  beloved  Union,  have  already  met  with  a 
warm  and  cordial  response  from  millions  in  all 
parts  of  the  country. 

I  have  said  the  very  existence  of  the  Union  is 
threatened,  and  I  have  selected  several  extracts 
from  speeches  mad^  in  this  House  at  this  session. 
as  reported  in  the  Congressional  Globe,  in  proof 
of  this  allegation,  to  let  the  people  and  the  coun 
try  know  from  what  section  and  party  they  have 
come. 

"It  may  be  asked,  when  will  the  time  come  when  we 
shall  separate  from  the  North?  I  say  candidly,  if  the  views 
expressed  by  the  gentleman  from  Iowa  are,  as  he  says,  com 
mon  to  the  Republican  party,  and  if  they  are  determined  to 


enforce  those  views,  T  declare  myself  ready  to-day.  I  would 
not  ask  to  delay  the  time  a  singie  hour.  *  *  *  But  not 
only  is  my  district,  but.  I  believe,  every  district  in  my  State, 
is  prepared  to  take  ground  in  favor  of  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union,  when  you  rell  them  that  such  are  your  sentiments 
and  purposes." — Hon.  0.  R.  Singleton,  Mississippi. 

"  The  South  here  asks  nothing  but  its  rights.  As  one  of 
its  Representatives,  I  would  have  no  more ;  but,  as  God  is 
my  judge,  as  one  of  its  Representatives,  I  would  shatter 
this  Republic  from  turret  to  foundation-stone  before  I  would 
take  one  tittle  less.  [Applause  in  the  galleries.]" — Hon.  L. 
M.  Keitt,  South  Carolina. 

"  Now,  sir,  however  distasteful  it  may  be  to  my  friend 
from  New  York.  [Mr.  CLARK.]  however  much  it  may  revolt 
the  public  sentiment  or  conscience  of  this  country.  I  am  not 
ashamed  or  afraid  publicly  to  avow  that  the  election  of  Wil 
liam  II.  Seward.  or  Salmon  P  Chase,  or  any  such  represent 
ative  of  the  Republican  party,  upon  a  sectional  platform, 
ought  to  be  resisted  to  the  disruption  of  every  tie  that  binds 
this  Confederacy  together.  [Applause  on  the  Democratic 
side  of  the  House.]" — Hon.  J.  L.  M.  Carry,  Alabama. 

"  I  speak  for  no  one  but  myself  and  those  I  have  here  the 
honor  to  represent,  and  I  say,  without  hesitation,  that  upon 
the  election  of  Mr.  SEWARD  or  any  other  man  who  endorses 
and  proclaims  the  doctrines  held  by  him  and  his  party — 
call  him  by  what  name  you  please — I  am  in  favor  of  an  im 
mediate  dissolution  of  the  Union  And.  sir.  I  think  I  speak 
the  sentiments  ot  my  own  constituents,  and  the  State  of 
South  Carolina,  when  I  say  so."— Hon.  M.  L.  Bonham,  South 
Carolina. 

"  Now,  I  speak  for  myself,  and  not  for  the  delegation.  Wo 
h  tve  endeavored  for  forty  years  to  settle  this  question  be 
tween  the  North  and  the  'South,  and  find  it  impossible.  I 
therefore  am  without  hope  in  the  Union ;  so  are  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  my  countrymen  at  home.  The  most  ci'iilid- 
ing  of  them  all  are,  sir,  for '  equality  in  the  Union,  or  inde 
pendence  out  of  it ;'  having  lost  all  hope  in  the  former,  I 
am  for  'INDEPENDENCE  NOW.  AND  INDEPENDENCE  FOREVER.'  " — 
Hon  M.  J  Crawford,  Georgia. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Republican  party,  I  warn  you.  Pre 
sent  your  sectional  candidate  for  1860;  elec'  him  as  the 
representative  of  your  system  of  labor ;  take  possession  of 
the  Government  as  the  instrument  of  your  power  in  this 
conflict  of  'irrepressible  conflict,'  and  we  of  the  South  will 
t<-ar  this  Constitution  to  pieces,  and  look  to  our  guns  for 
iustice  and  right  against  aggression  and  wrong  Decide, 
then,  the  destinies  of  this  great  country  We  are  pivpaml 
for  the  decision." — Hon.  R.  Davis,  Mississippi. 

"  I  shall  announce  the  solemn  fact,  disagreeable  though 
it  may  be  to  you  as  well  as  to  me.  to  my  people  as  well  as 
to  yours,  that 'if  this  course  of  aggression  shall  be  contin 
ued,  the  people  of  the  South,  of  the  slaveholding  States,  will 
be  compelled,  by  every  principle  of  justice,  of  honor,  and  of 
self-preservation,  to  '  disrupt  every  tie  that  binds  us  to  the 
Union  —  peaceably  if  they  can,  forcibly  if  they  must.'" — 
Hon.  L.  J.  GartrdL,  Georgia. 

We  have  here  a  distinct  proposition  addressed 
to  the  people  of  the  free  States,  that  there  is 
really  an  intention  on  the  part  of  at  least  a  por 
tion  of  the  South  to  dissolve  this  Union_  in  a 
certain  contingency,  and  tliat  contingency  is  the 
election  of  a  Republican  President.  The  issue 
is  tendered,  and  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the 
North  we  accept  it  We  will  try  the  issue  ;  we 
will  test  the  strength  of  the  Union.  Here  is  the 
alternative  presented  to  the  North  ;  either  to 
abandon  their  clear,  unquestionable  rights  under 
the  Constitution,  freely  to  participate  in  the  elec 
tion  of  a  President,  or  to  acknowledge  them 
selves  contemptible,  servile  slaves,  by  marching 
up  to  the  polls  under  duress.  I  speak  for  myself 
and  for  my  people  when  I  say.  if  the  Union  can 
not  stand  the  election  and  inauguration  of  a  Re 
publican  President,  standing  upon  the  platform 
of  the  fathers  of  the  Republic,  "  let  it  slide;"  it  is 
not  worth  preserving  a  single  hour.  And  we 
want  no  delay  in  this  matter;  let  the  crisis  come 
in  1860.  The  great  Republican  party  of  this 
country  demand  that  the  issue  be  tried ;  let  it 
come,  and  come  in  1860. 

In  the  face  and  eyes  of  these  threats,  the  Na- 


13 


tional  Republican  Committee  have  met  and  issued 
their  call  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  President 
and  Vice  President  at  the  next  election. 

"The  Republican  electors  of  the  several  States,  the 
members  of  the  People's  party  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the 
Opposition  party  of  .New  Jersey,  and  all  others  who  are 
willing  to  co-operate  with  them  in  support  of  the  candidates 
who  shall  there  be  nominated,  and  who  are  opposed  to  the 
policy  of  the  present  Administration ;  to  Federal  corrup 
tion  and  usurpation;  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the 
Territories ;  to  the  new  and  dangerous  political  doctrine 
that  the  Constitution,  of  its  own  force,  carries  slavery  into 
all  the  Territories  of  the  United  States :  to  the  reopening 
of  the  African  slave  trade;*  to  any  inequality  of  rights 
among  citizens;  and  who  are  in  favor  of  the  immediate 
admission  of  Kansas  into  the  Union  under  the  Constitution 
recently  adopted  by  its  people;  of  restoring  the  federal 
administration  to  a  system  of  rigid  economy ;  and  to  the 
principles  of  Washington  and  Jefl'erson ;  of  maintaining 
inviolate  the  rights  of  the  States,  and  defending  the  soil  of 
every  State  and  Territory  from  lawless  invasion ;  and  of 
preserving  the  integrity  of  this  Union,  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  Constitution  and  laws  passed  in  pursuance  thereof, 
against  the  conspiracy  of  the  leaders  of  a  sectional  party 
to  resist  the  majority  principle  as  established  l>y  this  Gov 
ernment,  at  the  expense  of  its  existence,  are  invited  to 
send  from  each  State  two  delegates  from  every  Congres 
sional  district,  and  four  delegates  at  large,  to  the  Con 
vention." 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  sun  will  rise  and  set,  and 
that  Convention  will  meet,  and  adopt  a  pl.tform 
embodying  the  doctrines  indicated  in  the  above 
call ;  and  then  it  will  nominate  a  statesman,  a 
man  of  comprehensive,  n  itioual  views,  one  whose 
opinions  will  square  with  the  platform  ;  and 
then,  sir,  under  the  broad,  national  banner  of 
the  "  stars  and  stripes,"  we  will  go  into  the 
contest,  and  elect  the  nominee  of  the  Chicago 
Convention  President  of  the  United  States.  I 
will  not  stop  to  argue  the  question  whether  we 
can  inaugurate  the  President  elect  or  not.  As 
the  gallant  Miller  said,  when  charging  the 
enemy's  battery  at  Lundy's  Lane,  "  We  shall 
try."" 

Some  weeks  since,  I  received  from  a  friend 
several  copies  of  the  Cincinnati  Commercial,  un 
der  date  of  December  last,  in  which  is  related 
the  incidents  of  a  pilgimage  to  Wheatland,  in 
1856,  by  William  M.  Correy,  who,  I  understand, 
was,  and  is,  one  of  the  bright  and  shining  lights 
of  the  Democratic  party  in  Ohio.  Among  others 
Mr.  Correy  met  at  Wheatland,  was  A.  D.  Banks, 
then  editor  of  the  South-Side  Democrat.  Speaking 
conversation  there  had  with  Mr.  Banks,  Mr. 
orrey  says :  \f 

There  was  another  matter  discussed  on  Mr.  B.rs  motion. 
He  toid  us  the  South  would  have  dissolved  the  Union  if 
Fremont  had  been  elected  President  of  the  United  States  : 
that  Governor  Wise  and  the  Virginia  leaders  were  ready  to 
take  the  field  —  march  on  Washington,  depose  the  Federal 
officers,  take  the  Treasury,  archives,  buildings,  grounds,  &c., 
declare  the  Confederation  ck.  facto  overthrown,  and  the  Dis 
trict  to  have  reverted  to  Virginia,  the  purpose  for  which 
she  had  conveyed  it  having  failed." 

these  representations,  which  Mr.  Correy  de 
clares  were  made  to  him  by  Mr.  Banks,  were 
true,  then  we  have  the  programme  of  '4  Governor 
AVise  and  the  Virginia  leaders  "for  dissolving 
the  Confederacy  in  1857.  It  was  to  have  been  a 
foray,  not  of  John  B?6wn,  but  of  Governor  Wise; 
not  into  Virginia,  but  out  of  it  |  not  on  Harper's 
Ferry,  but  the  city  of  Washington.  The  public 
buildings,  the  archives,  and  the  public  Treasury, 
were  to  be  seized  and  plundered.  Well,  if  that 
is  to  be  the^pi*6gramme  fiT^TSGL  Governor  Wise 
and  his  "  Virginia  leaders,"  it  they  do  make  a 


raid  upon  the  Treasury,  after  it  has  been  plun 
dered  lor  four  years  by  this  profligate  Adminis 
tration,  will  find  it  empty  as  a  contribution-box. 
In  view  of  these  things,  the  question  returns  : 
would  it  be  prudent  for  the  people  of  the  fiee 
States,  after  electing  a  Republican  for  President, 
to  attempt  to  inaugurate  him  aud  take  the  reins 
of  Government  in  18(U  ?  or  would  it  be  the 
"  better  part  of  valoT  ~^\o  do  as  history  informs 
us  certain  Southern  soldiers  did  when  Washing 
ton  was  invaded  by  a  lew  companies  of  British 
soldiers  \n  1814,  who  came  straggling  up  from 
the  waters  of  the  Chesapeake — throw  away  our 
arms  without  firing  a  gun,  and  leave  the  "  build 
ing  and  archives  aud  Treasury  (v  ults)  to  the 
mercy  of  the  invaders?"  I  migbt  answer,  in 
the  words  of  the  good  old  maxim — ';  sufficient 
unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof."  But  allow  ine 
to  suggest,  and,  in  so  doing,  to  use  the  terse  lan 
guage  of  the  distinguished  gentleman  Irom  Penn 
sylvania,  [Mr.  HICK.MAN,]  that  eighteen  milLon 
men,  reared  to  industry,  with  all  the  appliances 
of  art  to  assist  them,  aided  by  at  least  four  mil 
lion  more  of  Union  men  at  the  South,  would  de 
vise  a  way  to  inaugurate  a  President ;  aud  more 
than  that,  to  administer  the  Government  under 
his  lead. 

13.  I  charge  upon  the  South,  through  the 
agency  of  the  Democratic  party,  that  they  are 
the  aggressors  in  bringing  about  the  present  in 
tense  slavery  agitation  iu  the  country  •  and  that 
they  are  responsible  for  all  the  evils  it  has  pro 
duced.  You  complain  of  this  agitation,  and  yet 
you  put  it  out  of  our  power  to  stop  it.  Who 
does  not  remember  the  halcyon  days  of  national 
peace  and  quiet  that  followed  the  adoption  of 
the  compromise  measures  of  1850  ?  Mi  u  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  if  they  did  not  approve,  so 
far  «•  conquered  their  prejudices,"  as  to  acquiesce 
in  these  measures.  From  1850  to  1854.  upon 
this  exciting  topic,  the  political  heavens  were 
draped  in  the  mellow  light  of  a  serene  autumnal 
day.  AVho  first  disturbed  this  peaceful  repose  ? 
Who  sounded  the  tocsin  of  war,  which  came 
pealing  upon  the  public  ear  like  an  '•  alarm  tire- 
bell  in  the  night  ?  "  I  will  let  Ex-President  Fill- 
more  answer  the  question.  In  his  ktter  to  the 
New  York  Union  meeting,  he  said  : 

f"  In  an  evil  hour  this  Pandora's  box  of  slavery  was  again 
'opened  by  what  1  conceive  to  be  an  unjustifiable  attempt  to 
force  slavery  into  Kansas  by  a  repeal  of  the  Missouri  com 
promise;  and  the  flood  of  evils  now  swelling  and  threaten 
ing  to  overthrow  the  Constitution,  and  sweup  away  the 
foundations  of  the  Government  itself,  and  deluge  this  laud 
ith  fraternal  biood,  may  all  be  traced  to  this  untortunatdj 
L':  *m*e 

There  never  was  more  truth  uttered  in  the 
same  number  of  lines — never.  I  have  already 
said  the  South  repealed  the  Missouri  compromise 
aud  in  this  I  am  corroborated  by  Senator  IVER- 
SON,  of  Georgia,  wno,  in  a  recent  spcecii  iu  the 
Senate,  when'speaking  of  what  Nortut-ru  Demo 
crats  had  done  for  the  South,  said  : 

41  They  aided  the  South  in  repealing  and  removing  the 

^Missouri  restriction,  that  degrading  badge  of  Southern  mfe-   - 

riority  and  submission/'  '     / 

Every  evil  that  has  grown  out  of  slavery lig^ 
tation  is  clearly  traceable  to  this  aggr  ssive  act 

Then  followed  your  border-ruffictu  forays  into 
Kansas,  to  force  slavery  upon  au  uuvviliiug  peo- 


\ 

•* 


14 


pie  by  violence,  fire  and  aword,  usurpation,  mur 
der,  and  rapine  ;  and,  to  cap  the  climax  of  your 
wrongs,  you  summoned  to  your  aid  the  contempt 
ible  dynasty  of  James  Buchanan,  and  the  disci 
pline  of  your  sectional  Democracy,  to  cram  down 
the  throats  of  the  peopfeof  Kansas  the  infamous 
and  atrocious  Lecompton  Constitution.    Did  you 
suppose  the  people  of  the  free  States  were   suf 
ficiently  "  servile  "  and  craven-hearted  to  submit 
to  these  outrages  upon  their  rights,  and  not  re 
sist  at   the   ballot-box  these  unpardonable  ag 
gressions  ?      If  so,  you  reckoned  "  without  your 
host."  The  Democratic  party  in  the  North,  which 
has  been  ^a'l'flThg  "  the  SouTn  in   these  acts  of 
wanton  aggression,  has  been  stricken  down  by 
the  uplifted  hand  of  an  indignant,  patriotic  peo 
ple.     If  the  South  had  not  slaughtered  the  glo 
rious  old  Whig  party  in  the  house  of  its  friends, 
and  completely  demoralized  and  sectionalized 
that  other  glorious  old  party,  once  led  by  Jefler- 
son  and  Jackson,  the  Repu-blican  organization 
would  not  have  been  a  matter  of  necessity.    The 
North,  in  self-defence,  inaugurated  the  great  Re 
publican  party.     The  South  complains  of  North 
ern  sentiment   upon   the   slavery   question.     Our 
answer  to  our   Southern  brethren  is  :  you  manu 
factured  it ;  not  we.     You  forced  upon  the  coun 
try  the  mistaken  measures  that  have  produced 
it.    You   have  driven  every  member  of  the  so- 
called  Democratic  party  from  all  New  England 
out  of  both  ends  of  this  Capitol. 

From  the  great  free  Northwest,  out  of  fifty- 
two  members  in  this  House,  you  have  sixteen 
remaining,  and  in  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol 
only  five — and  growing  beautifully  less  every 
year.  In  the  middle  free  States,  out  of  sixty- 
three  members  of  this  House,  you  have  driven 
out  all  but  seven.  In  the  Thirty-third  Congress, 
which  repealed  the  Missouri  compromise,  the 
Democratic  party  had.  from  the  free  States,  ninety- 
one  members  in  the  House  5  now  that  party  has 
but  just  twenty-six  members  in  this  House.  And 
here  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  decadence 
has  been  the  direct  fruit  of  Southern  aggressions. 
If  any  class  of  men  ever  had  occasion  to  pray  fer 
vently  and  earnestly,  "  save  us  from  our  friends" 
it  is  those  Democrats  in  the  free  States  who  have 
undertaken  to  paddle  to  the  Capitol  with  South 
ern  millstones  about  their  necks,  and  have  gone 
down  to  the  bottom  under  the  fury  of  Southern 
storms,  raking  in  madness  and  fury  across  North 
ern  seas.  If  Caesar  has  been  stabbed  in  the 
American  Congress,  it  is  because  Ca3sar  has  been 
his  own  Brutus.  But  our  Southern  friends  com 
plain  because,  as  they  say,  there  are  "  one  hun 
dred  and  twelve  Black  Republicans  on  this  side 
of  the  House."  Well,  gentlemen,  you  stirred  up 
the  Northern  people  to  send  us  here.  JThere 
always  was  a  South  in  Congress  •  and  no  \ , 
through  your  o!7r<^t  intejTJSsmon,  there  is  a 
.AV^toJake  tbetr^seats  me  by  side  with  you 
in  this  Hail. 

Our  people  and  your  people  entertain  different 
opinions  upon  the  great  question  of  slavery  ;  and 
so  do  you  and  we,  as  the  representatives  of  those 
antagonistic  opinions  upon  this  floor.  If  you 
say,  *;  we  have  Abraham  for  our  father,"  so  do 
we.  It  was  your  fathers,  your  immortal  Wash- 


ington,  your  Jeffersons.  and  Madisons,  and  Hen- 
rye.'  and  Masons,  and  Piukneys,  in  conjunction 
with  our  fathers,  who  handed  down  to  us  the 
very  doctrines  now  advocated  by  the  Republican 
party.  Will  you  denounce  us  as  traitors  because 
we  listen  to  the  teachings  of  your  own  noble 
Southern  ancestry  ?  Are  we  to  be  maligned  as 
enemies  to  the  Constitution  because  we  follow 
"  with  a  careful  tread  "  in  the  very  footsteps  of 
the  heroes  and  statesmen  who  framed  it?  Your 
fathers  believed  slavery  to  be  a  groat  social, 
moral,  and  political  evil  5  and  that  it  was  wrong, 
and  against  the  best  interests  of  our  common 
country,  to  spread  and  perpetuate  it :  and  while 
you  have  broken  down  their  old  landmarks,  we 
of  the  North  stand  by  them. 

But  you  complain  on  account  of  the  raid  of 
John  Brown  into  Virginia.  I  admit  you  have 
reason  to  complain  of  the  act.  I  most  unquali 
fiedly  condemn  the  acts  of  Brown  and  his  mad 
followers  in  their  attempts  to  disturb  the  domes 
tic  relations  of  a  sovereign  State  ;  but  while  I 
do  this,  I  deny  that  tiie  people  of  the  Tree  States, 
or  the  Republican  party,  ought  to  be  held  re 
sponsible  in  any  sense  for  the  acts  of  Brown  and 
his  followers.  Mr.  Fillmore,  who,  I  believe,  is 
good  Southern  authority,  in  his  New  York  letter, 


lamentable  tragedy  at  Harper's  Ferry  is  dearly 
traceable  to  this  unfortunate  controversy  about  slavery  in 
Kansas." 

•i  Had  there,  then,  been  no  raids  into  Kansas  to 
force  slavery  into  that  Territory,  there  would 
have  been  none  into  Virginia  to  force  slavery  out 
of  it.  Violence  begets  violence  ;  and  the  seed 
sown  in  Kansas  germinated  in  Virginia.  It  is 
easier  to  raise  a  storm  o'f  domestic  violence  than 
to  quell  it.  But  sir,  it  is  not  to  be  d.-nied  that 
slavery  is  a  dangerous  element  of  itself,  in  any 
State  or  community  where  it  exists.  Who  can 
sit  down  and  read  the  debates  in  the__V_ir_ginia 
Legislatu.iv  in  1832,  without  becoming  impressed 
with  this  idea? 

In  one  of  the  most  eloquent  speeches  that  ever 
I  read,  the  Hon.  James  McDowell,  jun..  afterwards 
Governor  of  Virginia  and  a  distinguished  mem- 
*~  jr  of  Congress,  said  :  ^£ 

"It  has  been  frankly  and  unquestionably  declared,  from 
the  very  commencement  of  this  debate,  by  th>-  m  »st  decided 
enemies  of  abolition  themselves,  as  well  as  oih  «rs,  that  this 
property  i-<  an  -evil,'  anil  that  it  is  a  DVNGrji  <>i>  property. 
Yes.  sir.  so  dangerous  has  it  been  represented  to  be,  even 
by  those  who  desire  to  retain  it.  that  we  have  been  re 
proached  for  speaking  of  it,  other w is  •  t  >an  "in  fireside 
whispers;  reproached  for  entertaining  debate  upon  it  in 
this  Hall." 

Hou.  Charles  J.  Faulkner,  just  appointed  by 
Mr.  Buchanan  to  thJe~¥Tench  missio  i.  in  a  speech 
in  the  Virgmia  House  of  Delegates,  la  i  nary  20, 
1832,  in'speaking  of  the  slave  population  in  that 
Sf?ft£,  said  :  ^ 

Sir,  to  the  eye  of  the  statesman  as  to  the  eye  of  Omnis 
cience,  dangers  pressing,  and  dangers  that  must  n.-cessarily 
press,  are  alike  present.  With  a  .single  glance  h  ;  embraces 
Virginia  now  with  the  ELEMENTS  OF  )/.  s  reposing 

quietly  upon  her  bosom,  and  Virginia  lighted  from  one  ex 
tremity  to  the  other  with  the  torch  of  S'-rvilo  in-urrectioa 
and  massacre  It  is  not  sufficient  for  him  that  the  match 
is  not  yet  applied.  It  is  enough  that  the  in.iga/iiit)  is  open, 
and  that  the  match  will  shortly  be  applied. ' 

"*1  speak  not  of  these  things  to  reproach  Vir 
ginia,  but  adduce  them  as  facts  worthy  of  serious 


STATES;"  "to  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  neces 
sary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
foregoing  powers,"  (in  section  eight,)  "  and  all 
other  powers  vested  by  the  Constitution  in  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  or  any  department 
or  t>mTe"1Jnereof." 

The  President,  before  entering  upon  the  execu 
tion  of  his  office,  is  obliged  by  the  Constitution 
to  take  an  oath  or  affirmation,  that  lie  will,  "  ac 
cording  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  preserve,  protect, 
and  defend,  the  Constitution  of  the  bmted  Siates." 
[Article  two,  section  one.]  The  Constitution 
[article  three,  section  three]  gives  Congress  the 
power  to  "declare  the  puuisiiment  of  tieason;" 
and  they  have  done  it.  Any  attempt  on  tiie  part 
of  a  State,  or  of  any  of  its  citizens,  to  break  up 
the  Union,  is  rebellion  against  the  laws  oi  Con 
gress  and  war  upon  the  Constitution,  and  '-levy 
ing  war  against  the  United  States,''  wnich  the  Con 
stitution,  in  the  same  article,  declares  to  be 
"treason."  In  such  an  event,  it  would  be  the 
duty  of  the  President  of  the  United  Slates,  by 
virtue  of  his  oath,  and  the  authority  with  wnicn 
he  is  vested  by  the  Constitution,  to  put  down 
such  rebellion,  and,  if  necessary,  to  use  the 
"  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,'"  to  aid  in 
doing  it.  And  it  would  be  equally  the  duty  of 
the  Federal  courts  to  try  all  .persons  engaged  in 
such  overt  acts,  aud,  if  found  guilty,  fiang  them 
high  as  Hamau.  There  is  no  such  tnmg  as  seces 
sion  without  revolution — the  oue  necessarily  in 
volves  the  other.  The  people  made  this  Govern 
ment  and  "  established  the  Constitution,"  and 
they  can  abolish  it  by  revolution,  and  in  no 
other  way.  Any  other  construction  01  the  Con 
stitution  would  make  it  a  mere  rope  oi  sand — a 
Government  liable  to  fly  into  fragments  at  auy 
moment,  with  no  cohesive  power  to  perpetuate 
its  existence  or  protect  itself  against  domestic 
violence,  insurrection,  and  treason. 

Sir,  this  Government  cost  too  much  blood  and 
treasure  to  be  destroyed  upon  any  slight  pretext 
under  it.  From  thirteen  feeble  coionies,  with 
three  million  inhabitants,  we  have,  in  a  little 
m^re'nnan  seventy  years,  advauced  with  giant 
strides  until  we  have  thirty-three  poweriul  States, 
and  about  tweuty-eight  million  mnabiunts. 

Our  national  doniainJoas  increased  iroin  eight 
hundred  and  twenty  ftio  usaud  six  hundred  and 
eighty,  to  two  million  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
six  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty -six  bo^uare 
miles.  It  stretches  across  the  continent  irom 
tJc"eau  to  ocean,  from  the  Atlantic  to  tne  Pacific, 
aud  irom  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  In^id  regions 
of  the  North.  Our  natural  resources  are  un 
bounded.  Our  waving  fields  not  only  yield  a 
generous  return  to  the  hand  of  the  huooandman, 
majorj.tes.  bec-tuse  they  are  citizens  of  the  I  but  furnish  bread  for  the  world.  Our  workshops 


consideration;  facts  not  only  admitted  but  proved 
by  some  of  Virginia's  most  distinguished  states- 
men.  I  will  rTpTfrt  what  has  been~saicr  so  many 
tunes  before,  that  the  Republican  party  all  over 
?nec(5untry  is  opposed  to"  aby  and  all  measures 
which  tend  toTiisturb  the  domestic  relations  be 
tween  master  andslave  in  those  States  where  it 
lawfully  exisfsT"aT*?he  same  time  they  are  in  fa 
vor  of  all  constitutional,  lawful  measures  which 
will  prevent  its  extension  now  and  forewZf 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  oeslre  to  say  a  few  words  in 
reply  to  the  threats  of  disunion  which  have  so 
often  been  made  on  the  Democratic  side  of  this 
House,  and  I  have  done.  AncTit  is  a  significant 
fact,  that  should  go  out  to  the  country,  that  all 
political  organizations  in  this  House,  excepting 
the  Democratic  party,  are  willing  to  unite  upon' 
broad  iiaHonal  grounds  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union.  When  gentlemen  talk  about  a  disso 
lution  of  the  Union,  there  are  two  views  to  be 
taken  of  the  subject.  The  history  of  the  past 
discloses  the  fact  that  the  Union  has  often  been 
threatened  before,  and  as  often  dissolved  ;  and 
yet  these  marble  columns  steadily  maintain  their 
places,  and  instead  of  States  going  out  of  the 
Union,  they  have  all  the  time  been  coming  in, 
until  we  have  a  glorious  galaxy  of  thirty-three 
States.  A  serious  purpose  to  dissolve  the  Union 
involves  the  great  inquiry,  how  can  it  be  done  ? 
If  I  understand  the  theory  of  those  who  advo 
cate  this  doctrine,  it  is  this  :  that  a  State,  in  its 
sovereign  capacity,  has  a  right  to  judge  for  it 
self,  and  determine,  independently  of  the  General 
Government  or  of  the  other  States,  how  long  it 
shall  remain  in  the  Union  ;  and  whenever  it  de 
termines  no  longer  to  remain  in  the  Confederacy, 
it  can  peaceably  secedeJ\Against  this  doctrine 
I  enter  my  suWfBll'pfblest.  For  the  sake  of  the 
argument,  if  it  were  true,  that  the  Union  was  a 
simple  compact  between  the  States,  it  would  re 
quire  the  consent  of  all  the  parties  to  the  com 
pact  to  permit  one  of  its  members  to  go  out ; 
hence  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  a  peacea 
ble  dissolution  of  such  Union. 

But  the  States,  as  independent  sovereignties, 
did  not  make  the  Constitution  ;  it  wasiuework 
of  the  people,  as  expressed  in  the  preamble:  "  We, 
the  peojTpmo  ordain  and  establish  this  Consti 
tution1!"^  Every  citizen  is  a  citizen  not  only  of 
his  State,  but  of  the  United  States,  and  has  a 
right,  under  the  Federal  Constitution,  to  claim 
its  protection.  But  how  can- a  State  settle  the 
paint  that  they  will  secede?  It  can  only  be  done 
by  a  majority,  acting  through  its  Legislature  or 
by  Convention  ;  and  in  such  a  case,  what  be 
comes  of  the  minority,  who  are  opposed  to  seces 
sion  ?  They  caTmo't  be  forced  out  of  the  Union 


United  Spates,  and  have  a  right  to  claim  the  pro 
tection  the  Constitution  atfords  all  its  citizens. 
Again,  so  far  as  the  several  States  consented,  as 
sovereignties,  to  enter  the  Union,  therlTVas  no 
reservation  of  a  right  to  withdraw.  The  bond 
was  to  be  perpetual.  HencelT'lsTlear  that  there 
can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  peaceful  secession. 
The  Constitution  (article  one,  section  eight)  gives 
Congress  the  pow  r  to  "  provide  for  the  com-, 
man  defense  and  general  welfare  of  the  UNITED 


dot  every  valley  and  encircle  every  hai,  wnne 
tiie  busy  fiuni  oi  machinery  seiids  loitn  its  music, 
from  almost  every  gurglin^  stream  and  waterlall. 
The  phaut  hand  of  American  industry  nas  digged 
do\vii  into  the  mine  of  the  earth,  developing  our 
vast  mineral  resources,  furnitMiiug.  not  only  to 
Amer.ca,  but  the  world,  tiie  precious  metals — 
coal,  iron,  lead,  and  other  valuable  productions, 
lying  in  the  subterranean  regions  ueneatn  our 
feet.  All  over  our  land,  as  by  tut  naud  oi  inagic, 


16 


have  sprung  into  active  life  splendid  and  mag- 
niflceut  cities,  mighty  in  wealth,  vast  in  popula 
tion,  abounding  in  marts  of  trade  and  the  bustle 
of  mercantile  life. 

Along  our  coasts,  washed  by  the  ebbing  and 
flowing  tides  of  two  mighty  oceans,  may  be 
heard  the  chiming  music  of  the  axe,  the  saw, 
and  the  mallet,  plied  by  the  ingenious  hands  of 
•American  mechanics,  transferring  the  rugged 
oak  and  the  lofty  pine  into  "  ships  which  go 
down  into  the  deep  "  to  whiten  every  ocean  and 
every  sea  with  their  canvas,  and  visit  every  port 
around  the  vast  circle  of  the  -globe.  Our  insti 
tutions  of  learning,  our  colleges,  our  academies, 
and  common  schools,  travel  along  pari  passu 
with  the  advancing  wave  of  a  refined  American 
civilization,  all  over  our  States  and  Territories. 
Among  our  sons  and  daughters,  there  is  none 
too  poor  to  tread  the  classic  halls  of  lore,  or 
climb  the  rugged  "  hills  of  science."  From  every 
part  of  our  laud,  the  church  spire  points  away  to 
heaven;  and  in  these  temples,  made  with  hands, 
the  G*>d  of  our  fathers  is  adored  and  worshipped 
by  their  posterity.  Our  country  is  bound  to 
gether  by  bands  of  iron,  spreading  themselves 
like  one  vast  network  in  every  direction,  annihi 
lating  space,  bringing  distant  cities  near  ;  while 
the  thundering  tramp  of  the  fiery  steed  and  the 
shrill  scream  of  the  locomotive  are  echoed  and 
i't;-<  choed  wherever  the  arts  of  American  indus- 
tiy  have  found  a  home.  Through  the  instru 
mentality  of  American  inventive  genius,  thought, 
with,  lightning  speed,  Hashes  over  a  thousand 
wires,  makes  far-off  distant  cities  next-door 
neighbors,  while  New  Orleans,  Boston,  Charles 
ton,  and  Chicago,  tip  their  beavers  and  shake 
hands  before  breakfast. 

Where  is  the  American  citizen  that  can  glance 
Ms  eyes  over  this  young  but  mighty  Western 
empire — this  beacon-light  of  warning  to  tyrants 
and  despots  in  the  Old  vVorld — this  laud,  where 
the  hand  of  honest  toil  and  industry  reaps  a  sure 
reward,  without  patriotic  emotions  and  national 
pride?  Who  can  gaze  upon  the  "stars  and 
stripes" — the  proud  banner  under  whose  floating 
folds  our  brave  countrymen  from  every  sectiou 
have  fought  the  battles  of  a  common  country: — 
and  tuen  indulge  in  a  desire  to  strike  it  down, 
and  trail  it  in  the  dust?  We  gaze  upon  these 
lofty  domes,  colossal  pillars,  and  marble  col 
umns  :  we  view  these  standing  evidences  of 
national  wealth  and  greatness — then  turn  away 
to  inquire,  where  is  the  American  citizen  that  is 
ready  to  strike  them  down  a  heap  of  ruins  ? 
Our  country  in  the  past  had  its  lights  and  shades, 
its  sunshine  and  its  storms.  '•  Clouds  and  dark 
ness''  have  sometimes  hung  low  over  our  politi 
cal  horizon  5  the  lightning's  flash,  and  hoarse, 
muttering  thunder  foreboded  the  coming  storm  ; 
y^t  they  nave  passed  away  behind  the  beautilui 
rainbow  of  peace,  cheering  the  patriot's  heart 
with  bright  visions  of  promise  and  hope.  Shall 
we,  instead  of  learning  wisdom  from  the  past, 
and  in  God's  good  time  correcting  the  evils  in 
the  Union,  rush  madly  out  of  it? 

We  talk  of  disunion;  anJ  yet  how  can  we  do  it 

without  waking  up  the  memories  of   the  pa,>t? 

Comes  there  not  a  voice  ironi  tue  .sequestered 

The  State  Central  Committee  request  full 


shades  of  Mount  Vernon,  rolling  over  the  waters 
of  the  Potomac  in  trumpet  tones,  .exclaiming  : 
"Stay  the  rude  hand,  already  uplifted  to  disturb 
the  peaceful  repose  of  the  mighty  dead,  and  des 
ecrate  the  quiet  home  of  the  sleeping  hero?1' 
Will  you  visit  that  hallowed  spot,  just  rescued 
from  the  destroying  hand  of  time  by  the  benevo 
lence  and  affection  of  American  mothers  and 
daughters,  from  the  North,  the  South,  the  East, 
and  the  West,-  with  the  frightful  torch-light  of 
civil  war?  Shall  American  citizens  fight  over 
the  bones  of  the  immortal  Warren,  under  the  very 
shadow  of  Bunker  Hill  monument,  or  rudely  con 
tend  for  the  sacred  relics  entombed  at  Monticello? 
Will  they  invade  the  peaceful  retreats  that  sur 
round  the  tombstone  which  marks  the  final  rest 
ing  place  of  Ashland's  illustrious  departed  states 
man,  or  sound  the  direful  alarm  of  civil  war  over 
the  grave  of  Jackson,  or  insult  the  ashes  of  the  old 
hero  of  the  Hermitage?  Have  we  quite  forgotten 
Bunker  Hill  and  Trenton. Saratoga  and  Yorktowu? 
But  I  will  indulge  in  no  dreary  foreboding 
upon  this  subject.  This  mighty  Republic  has  not 
yet  fulfilled  its  manifest  destiny.  Lives  there  a 
man,  who  owes  allegiance  to  American  soil,  who 
would  hazard  the  experiment  ?  Roll  out  your 
rattling  car  of  disunion  from  its  black^Demo- 

£j*atic  charnel  house ;  dress  up  your  hi<U  ous, 
ghastly  goddess  of  disunion,  with  habiliments 
stained  with  human  go'rej  drawn  from  the  veins 
of  our  own  brethren.  Mount  her  upon  your 
clanking  charioFvvlTe'els  ;  drive  her,  with  all  the 
pageantry  cf  an  Eastern  monarch,  through  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  Union  ;  everywhere 
exhibit  her  bloody  hands  ;  her  eyes  lit  up  by  the 
tires  of  hell  ;  her  teeth  chattering  with  horrid 
grimaceT,~frlghtful  even  to  the  King  of  Terrors 
himself;  then  call  upon  the  American  people  co 
fall  down  and  worship  the  image  you  have  set 
upjfhow  many  vvould  be  found  ready  to  worship 

*ainer  shrine?  'Just  as  soon  would  they  cast 
bodies  before  the  sacrilegious  wheels  of  a  Hin 
doo  Juggernaut,  as  pay  homage  to  such  an  idol. 
No,  sir  ;  the  American  people  love  and  rever 
ence  the  Union  ;  and,  in  a  spirit  of  true  patriot 
ism,  they  will  cheerfully  endure  the  ills  that  are 
in  it  until  they  can  be  corrected,  rather  than  aid 
in  its  destruction. 

If  ever  the  time  shall  come  when  the  black 
flag  of  disunion  shall  be  unfurled  ;  when  the 
tocsin  of  civil  war,  domestic  strife,  and  servile 
insurrection,  shall  be  sounded  ;  when  American 
hands,  guided  by  the  lawlessness  of  treason, 
shall  be  reached  forth  to  pull  down  the  tall  pil 
lars  which  support  the  American  Union  ;  then, 
from  the  Nortn  and  the  South,  the  East  and  the 
West  ;  from  every  hill  and  valley  ;  from  the 
snow-capped  mountains  of  the  North,  the  sunny 
fields  or  the  South,  and  wide-extended  prairies 
of  the  West,  men  of  brave  hearts  and  strong 
hands  will  be  seen  flocking  around  one  common 
standard  ;  with  steady  step  and  solid  columns 
advancing,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  in  defense  of 
the  CONSTITUTION  and  the  UNION  ;  lighting 
for  their  homes  and  firesides;  rallying  to  the  old 
battle-cry  of  our  fathers,  ONE  DESTINY,  ONE 
COUNTRY  I  INDEPENDENCE  NOW,  AND 
INDEPENDENCE  FOREVER  1 1 
returns  of  Clubs  to  be  sent  to  their  office, 


1k 


